Im looking to take a good training class to build my resume. Can anyone make a east coast recommendation. Im a retired Police Officer and have attended LAV level 1 carbine/pistol.
I would go to Grey Groups website and look for classes in your area. I know TigerSwan is coming to North Versailles, PA Aug. 27-28. There will be some good shooters attending. Dave Harrington coming to Beaver Falls, PA this fall. That’s two training sets with former Delta’s.
I am pretty sure that if you find and speak with true EP personnel, they will probably tell you that super Ninja shooting classes aren’t that important.
What is important is stuff like medical training, surveillance and counter-surveillance, defensive driving and things of that nature.
EP work in the states (based on what guys in the industry have told me) is more like glamorous baby sitting. Keeping the principal safe from embarassment as well as harm.
^^^What Iraqgunz said.
Tacticalforums.com used to have a pretty good EP subforum. Haven’t been there in a while, but I’d start looking there. They have the skinny on who is actually getting hired coming out of which schools.
I guess I should have added that several of TigerSwans cadre has experience in this area. Dignitary protection in a high threat area or something similar. I don’t know if this is a skill they teach. Call 'em.
You probably have plenty of skills. You would NOT believe some of the people that get hired for some of these gigs - there’s a girl on Dell’s executive protection team who is about 24, no military experience, and has a fucking art degree. Daddy has to be retired SS or something.
I also met one who was working for the Steel Group or whatever their name is. During some FoF training she froze up while in the stack.
It isn’t.
The poster wants to break into the EP business. That means a school that teaches site surveys, advances, driving, interaction with the client, etc). If he does find work, many times he will be unarmed.
He doesn’t need to learn to set up a bounding overwatch with 5 overweight guys in chest rigs he just met :rolleyes:(to steal from and paraphrase a poster on another forum.)
From what I know about private EP, the most important thing to look for in a school is its ability to get you work when you graduate. Usually that means the older, established schools with alumni networks or schools that work as a training program for their own EP details.
Think Oatman, ESI, EPI, ITG, etc, and not Magpul, LAV or whoever is your favorite “in” trainer here this year.
There is tons of work in NYC, Westchester and Greenwich Ct. It pays well. Being im retired NYPD Im lucky the clients demand NYPD retirees only. I just want to separate myself from the average retiree. I was thinking about US Training Center 5 day Intro EP class. I just want to spend $1,300 wisely.
TigerSwan had a 5 day open enrollment EP class posted a couple of years ago but I haven’t seen it come up again.
I know for a fact that they can teach it but most likely they are doing it on a contract basis for specific units, either LE or Mil.
Try contacting the folks at www.vehicledynamics.net
I took a protective driving course with them a few years ago and they have a background in high end EP and security work in the North Jersey/NYC area.
Poking around, just found another one for the books - a global security detail supervisor for a major pharma company: black female whose last job was as a talent scout. Her qualifications include a business degree and time spent on various neighborhood development boards.
You’ve heard it’s not what you know, but who you know? Even more true with this field. And being a black woman doesn’t hurt either, I’m sure.
comprido- You do realize TigerSwan operates in Iraq and Afghanistan, don’t you? EP is something as a corporation that they engage in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are extremely highly regarded considering their backgrounds and their current operations. They may be the perfect place to start with.
Think Oatman…
He’s been around for quite some time. The ‘Major’ is definitely one to consider:
Mr. Oatman was one of the instructors while I was attending a class many years ago from the Executive Protection Institute, run by Dr. Kobetz:
http://www.personalprotection.com/index.html
…and I still have my Black Cat lapel pin.
ESI, Executive Security International. I haven’t taken a course from them since the mid 80’s and the only courses I took were from Bob Dugan and John Farnham.
Do some research and see if they are currently any good, but they specialize in Executive Protection.
I do know that, and I also know the poster isn’t talking about doing high risk protection overseas. Instead, he’s trying to break into executive protection stateside. Those are two very different things.
I stand by what I said. Stop giving him bad advice.
You might also want to talk to Hoploethos, I believe he works in that arena and might be able to point you in the right direction
Going to TS for EP training is bad advice? Please enlighten me as to how that is. Yeah, getting trained by former Delta’s is bad.
I just checked. Yes, they perfom EP(PSD’s). And, they offer PSD/VIP training.
So, as you said, please stop giving bad advice.
This is in Alliance, OH- about 8 hours driving from Wappinger, NY
I got the thumbs-up from a SOCNET regular as a good, basic school for people who are entering the protection industry.
I know Duggan from his H.R.D. days. That guy is a full-blown case.
I’ve been trained in PSD/VIP operations by TS. Leon Bracy or David Borreson are more than qualified and do teach “stateside” tactics. A phone call to TS wouldn’t hurt the OP in the least. At the very least, they’ll steer him.
As an aside, all PSD/VIP work, here or over there, is high risk (physically or legally) when it’s you doing the job. The schools you listed are valid options, but TS can match or beat them with the EP, intelligence, and planning experience that they bring to the table. The TS guys have experience with jobs that have run the gamut from uneventful to the worst case imaginable.
“No gun” or blade work is easy enough to train for though guys like Southnarc and there’s something to be said for getting training at various places instead of a one stop shop. As far as connections and networking go, TS has got it in spades. I got a job at home through connections I made at TS. It’s all about meeting the right people and making a good impression.
TS might not be the OP’s cup of tea, but they’re certainly a lot more than a place to train for sandbox jobs.