Ending my latest circuit of courses of instruction internationally was the 2016 October 17 to November 29 Specialist Close Personal Protection Basic Course of Instruction in Thailand.
These small group specialist courses are designed to provide attendees training and practical experience in all the required tactics and skills to work on a close protection detail.
The CPP course while not as physically challenging as CQC courses is certainly a demanding experience for attendees that are required to commit fully to the course lectures practical training and training exercises so as not to let the team down and risk weaknesses and errors in the planning and preparing of the operation orders for training exercises.
Close personal protection specialists are required to respect the chain of command obey commands and instructions and undertake and complete tasks and duties with high-level attention to detail and uncompromising commitment to objective achievement.
Living and working together for to cram packed two weeks of training under time restraints pressure and stresses related to advance planning and conducting of training exercises can be extremely demanding and mentally challenging.
Weaknesses and traits are easily identified and must be corrected at real time as the course demands such errors of exponents ways to be pointed out and eliminated promptly to avoid the team being adversely affected when conducting threat assessments compiling operation orders and undertaking hands on training exercises.
Exponents are given all the required instruction training and advice to undertake the duties required to fulfil tasking on course.
They must work as a tight unit to effectively undertake practical training exercises on course.
Any weak link on the detail failure to respect the chain of command or break downs in communications will adversely affect the required smooth fluid undertaking in relation to close protection related objective achievement.
There is a lot to be learned about oneself and one’s detail members under such training conditions.
The course comprised of lectures and practical in all the required close personal protection tradecraft practices.
Exponents on course learn everything from protocol and etiquette through to setting up a command centre and required trade craft equipment as well as how to secure a contract over the first few days of the course.
Long lecture hours that included detailing of CPP required skills and training, surveillance, counter and anti-surveillance, communications, undertaking threat assessments and security surveys leading to compiling operation orders meant that exponents were required to commit to working as a small, tight team to produce the best results. It has to be a team effort where everyone pulls their weight to avoid holes in plans.
CPP emergency Medical, working in a war zone realities as well as improvised explosive devices detection were amongst the wide ranging subjects included on course.
The Todd CPP package has a history leading back to WW11 and our predecessors that trained personnel to protect high ranking military officers and politicians in war zones and during war time visits to hostile territories.
The package has been kept current and has been instructed to protection groups to Royal families and wide ranging clients in the corporate world.
The Todd Group specialise in CPP required CQB and CQC and the packages are made up of European military protective trade craft tactics and skills specifically developed to protect third parties.
These trade craft skills sets are very different to the common fighting arts techniques of body guard training.
From low level intervention through to lethal actions on threat neutralisation and protective hand over to law enforcement defensive tactic skills the CPP related CQC and CQB tactics and skills are comprehensive.
After the exponent’s had completed lectures on the previous subjects the more they began to venture out and undertake practical training and conduct threat assessments and security surveys bringing the information back to our control room where they started to write operation orders for upcoming exercises.
In between lectures and practical training lessons in close protection related close combat hands on training in evasive CPP driving and aimed and instinctive point shooting were undertaken.
The last week of the course included a rail exercise, maritime exercise and two land-based exercises.
The importance of commitment and attention to detail in conducting security surveys threat assessments and compiling operation orders become very apparent under the unfolding real time realities of conducting practical training exercises where environmental conditions timings and fluid movements were essential.
The training exercises were a primary learning experience for exponents on this close personal protection course.
The close personal protection course is a specialist course of instruction but deemed a basic course because of it being only two-weeks in duration.
The course is certified on course completion not on a pass or fail basis.
Those that finish the course of instruction and want to go on to work on close protection contracts when seeking such employment can provide details of completion of the Todd Group close personal protection course and give consent for the contract holder to contact the Todd group for course report details/reference provision.
Conducting the course in Thailand after decades of conducting courses in New Zealand has proven to be extremely beneficial with exponents undertaking advances and conducting training exercises in a foreign country where they must use indigenous trusted pers to assist including with translation.
The climate weather foreign country considerations some language barriers and the hustle and bustle of training exercise locations provided a demanding but beneficial training environment and experience.
The Todd Group are fortunate that our courses circuits comprising of multiple courses enable us to conduct small group specialist courses of instruction in close protection which provides a very beneficial learning experience for attendees.
The referral industry of close protection was highlighted on completion of this course when we were contacted to provide high level pers for a very lucrative contract.
The 2017 CPP course recruiting/course joining information will be posted on www.toddgroup.com and www.eliteactionadventure.com as soon as the dates have been confirmed.
