The role of a close protection officer is more demanding than ever. You must make instant decisions to protect clients and put yourself in the line of fire. Behind the polished professionalism and calm presence lies a rigorous mental, emotional, and physical training journey.
This blog series offers an authentic look at elite close protection training. In this first exclusive interview, the Blue Mountain Group delegate explains how his training has helped him step into the shoes of a protector. Read on to find out how BMG is helping to boost the security industry.
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I spoke to my peers, and many of them in the security industry mentioned BMG. I have worked in security my whole career and in tech simultaneously. Consequently, I know a lot of contacts in the industry, and I was told the close protection course at BMG was the best.
It definitely exceeded my expectations, based on the instructors' ability to give you the information you needed to pass the course and exams.
Also, the instructor’s ability to make everything more real. At times, we were taking in information from different emotional states. This type of training helped me assess and learn the information in a more meaningful way.
I give talks and coach people myself, and it can be difficult to keep people’s attention in a one-hour workshop. BMG managed to do this over a course that lasted three and a half weeks.
The Close Protection instructor would often go outside of the curriculum. This additional information gave more insight into close protection work. Hearing about the instructor's personal experiences, when things went well and when things went wrong, and then discussing the learnings from these were very effective.
On one day of the training, BMG took us off-site to another training location, where we practised driving manoeuvres. These hijacking manoeuvres were a great experience, as you had to deal with gunfire and assaults. You were in a hypothetical village.
You had to take your client on a task, and various things happened that you had no control over, and you had to react to everything. It was an incredible day. It’s another example of how the close protection instructor and BMG are doing things to help you learn above and beyond the course syllabus.
Also, the psychological learning around the kidnap stuff was really strong. I was the only civilian in the group, as everyone else was ex-forces, from the military. They had all been used to that stuff, so for me as a civilian, to go through the captive stuff was tough psychologically.
It was awesome to do, as I had to think to keep up with those guys and girls. It was also hard at times because some of the language they use is based on army and police professional language. I definitely held my own, so it was a great experience.
The shock and capture stuff was amazing. One of the people on the course I got on with told me in the military, they did it for 18 hrs in the rain and were kicked and punched. As a civilian, I had never had an experience of being captured, so it all felt pretty real. You were under gunfire, there was smoke and you were captured and hooded.
It was pretty extreme. You also never knew when BMG would do things to you, so this constant unconscious fear kept you alert. I remember one day I came home, and I searched my car, and my other half said, “What are you doing?” And I told her I was searching my car for tracking devices!
The close protection instructor is very clever at heightening your awareness. It was certainly a highlight to have such immersive training. I am now more conscious and alert to the potential dangers around me. It has given me a greater understanding of the role. My eyes are now wide open to potential threats my clients could face.
The language. I was a door steward for many, many years. I already knew a lot of the things they were talking about. But the overt and covert information was really interesting. I hadn’t been part of that experience before. Again, the shock and capture areas and the realism were great.
Also, the foot drills were something I had never done before. They showed you different ways to keep your client safe when you were walking, going in and out of a vehicle (ingress and egress), or having to move from a moving vehicle. These were all great parts that were a new learning experience for me.
The medical part of the course and doing FREC Level 3 was the most challenging for me. I am a trained First Aider, but this was a level above. I had to remember all the medical terms, the biology, the dummy work, how to treat children, etc. It was the most learning I had to do as I hadn’t done it for years, and it was quite dormant.
Trying to remember the old stuff and learn new things that week was quite hard, so I was happy to pass those exams. FREC Level 3 was definitely a step up from what I had done before. Also, the FREC Level 3 instructor was brilliant and helped support everybody during the training.
One of the tasks we had was around surveillance, which I've never done before. This involved understanding people's movements and language and how to follow or be followed in the right way without people noticing. That covert and overt training was really interesting, and it involved a lot of learning that I'd never seen or done before.
It was the largest impact of new information that I had to take on board and learn. And then you had to go ahead and put it into practice. That was quite tough but really good as well.
Be willing to put your ego to one side of what you can and can't do and succumb to the course, the learning and really be willing to go outside the box.
It's hard when you get a group of mainly men together, and everyone's got their egos and testosterone. It doesn’t matter who is the strongest or, you know, the toughest. You have to be able to be calm and modify your behaviour.
I was one of the oldest people in the group, so I could help people younger than me who were going a bit off the edge. I tried to keep them calm and relaxed or get them to control their energy a little bit. Some of the older people could do that, but the young guys definitely find that hard.
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This delegate’s journey highlights that growth begins where certainty ends. The delegate faced mental fatigue, physical challenges, and high-pressure simulations, which helped him discover new skills and a new mindset. His story reflects the spirit of training at Blue Mountain Group: building more than capability but character.
This and further interviews in this blog series will show you what’s possible when you commit, adapt, and dare to go beyond the expected.
Interested in starting a career in close protection? Fill out our easy form here or call us on 01267 241 907.