While times have changed considerably post Covid-19, we have continued to run full calendars of courses including specialist close protection courses.
We have expanded our scope of training not only in NZ and our international hub country of Thailand but will also be returning to other overseas countries we have established our training provision in over several decades and add new countries and locations to our exported courses of instruction.
We are not only New Zealand’s longest training providers of specialist close personal protection but also provide a unique training experience with our CPP courses being predominantly dual country training courses.
This provides attendees with the opportunity to train and be part of training exercises in a foreign country where the English language is not the first spoken language.
Course attendees range from Todd Group members to corporates and members of the general public wanting to be capable of protecting those close to them, including family when travelling abroad or staff on business trips.
Courses also include a considerable number of current or former armed forces and law enforcement personnel from NZ and overseas. All applicants must meet our responsible citizens course joining requirements and we often turn down more than we accept for training and course joining.
The most recent CPP course included such attendees along with Dr Steffan Eriksson, a Todd Group Phase 3 Specialist proponent and our med cell head.
Steffan delivered the close protection related emergency medical component of the course.
There was also a warzone CPO introduction prepared for the course by a former elite forces operator and Iraq CPO contractor and anti-piracy veteran.
The initial important foundation tradecraft training content was covered in NZ before heading to Thailand our international hub country for training provision.
Having over 30 years’ involvement with close combat and close protection training in Thailand has led to the Todd Group being well established in the kingdom and having a considerable facilitation and support base including our own staff in country.
The course delivery is in both English and Thai and we have delivered full courses in Thailand for Thai nationals and attendees from other countries.
The program we deliver is a full close protection tradecraft training package of over 50 modules and sub modules including all the important basic primary skill sets required to work in close protection.
The training also includes driving, shooting and close protection specific close combat that the Todd Group specialise in developing.
Our courses combine lectures, practical tactics and skills training, the practice and revision of newly learned skills sets and practical training exercises.
The course left New Zealand ahead of the program on the group long haul flight to Thailand where they immediately continued on a training exercise phase.
In these very different post Covid-19 times as specialist training providers we need to be flexible and innovative and prepared to make changes to the training provision regimes to fit with a very different environment to pre-Covid.
We pride ourselves on being adaptable and to setting and maintaining our high standards while being able to be flexible and innovative to overcome any arising issues.
Coming up to our 100 years of mil close combat and mil self-defence training provision anniversary in 2027 our ethos has never changed with our setting and maintaining of our highest possible standards.
At a time for me personally that I am preparing for the 2027 hand over and stepping down as the chief instructor the interest in our services is increasing.
In the words of our founder the late Harry Baldock, when one training line ends and those in the waiting think there is an opportunity for their peoples training, the requests come in to secure your training services hard and fast.
This would be good if I was seeking more major contract work, but I am not as I need to focus on our HQ and depot’s training provision along with projects completion up until 2027 when I stand down as chief instructor. I will maintain my interest in my lifetimes close combat and self-defence work by being available to assist and advise our new Master-Chief instructor if and when required.
Our serious dedicated proponents are lifer’s and they deserve my full training commitment along with our serious committed basic and advanced exponents. So up until my hand over and the changing of the guard is completed my mission will be our dedicated committed training rank and file and their progression and advancement.
These top lads and lasses volunteer for training at their own expense and continue in their commitment to achieve their highest levels of competency over decades. They are not ordered or paid to undertake CQC/MSD/CPP training and they make many personal and financial sacrifices to be the best exponent/proponent they can be.
They volunteer for our hard heavy and hostile testing regimes to earn their rank as all previous candidates before them have.
We are in a unique position to be able to decline major offers in our tradecraft in these difficult economic times and this enables us to focus on those that are dedicated and highly committed volunteers that are the future and will future proof our training provision continuation.
Our unique history and longest private specialist training provision status in our European mil self-defence/CQC is our strength and is what attracts serious individuals on courses.
We have provided training to armed forces where our European CQC/MSD tradecraft training had been lost.
We have never wanted or needed to make our success on those that we have trained but have made our status on our training provision of our European mil elite close combat expertise as not only deliverers of training but also developers of tactics and skills as well as being holders of the doctrine.
We are the current caretakers of the doctrine training and management packages and the courses are delivered by our HQ Master- Chief Instructor assisted by our HQ Master Instructors, Senior Instructors and instructing cadre.
Our rank and file get their training directly from the HQ development source and centre of our tradecraft excellence.
Many tell us it is our direct tradecraft lineage and connections to leading former allied expert chief instructors that made their decisions on course joining.
Providing proof or lineage and qualifications dating back to expert instructors from the great wars is what so many of are serious members were looking for when they course joined.
There are many traditional arts and competitive codes available training options out there, but there is only one such training provider as the Todd Group formerly the Baldock Institute of our mil close combat and mil self-defence systems.
We are not recruiters and do not offer employment/contracts as our speciality is in specialist close personal protection, specialist close combat and military self-defence training provision to arm our understudies with the best capabilities to perform their duties and achieve their objectives in the roles they are working in or seek employment in.
Many of our exponents have previously completed other courses and such is their will to be best prepared they undertake our courses at their own expense. Close personal protection is a required course completion to be phase 3 specialist proponent qualified.
CPP like defensive tactics/tactical C&R courses/training are open to all ranks and accepted responsible citizens as they are tradecraft skills sets required to work in the security/law enforcement and private CPO contractor industries and services.
As I scale down the external training provision the interest in instructor training qualification courses for external organisations is an option subject to available dates to enable those that want our specific systems for their organisations to be able to have their handpicked pers trained, tested and for those that pass instructor qualified.
Just like for the great wars some of the leading expert chief armed and unarmed combat instructors that had military instructor qualifications were retired or were conducting civi training and when their expertise and skills sets were needed, they got the call up.
So, keeping the tradecraft alive and active with highly trained, tested and qualified instructors at the helm is most important.
This way our dedicated lifers will futureproof the development and availability of our trade-craft training.
We are getting more serious individuals that have done their research that has led them to us and they are prepared to undergo individual instruction training and volunteer for testing.
Some of the tradecraft training packages that we have not focused on over the last four plus decades that had been made dormant have in recent times been requested more and more often.
CQF close quarters fighting that includes European combat sports techniques and principles along with street fighting/bare knuckle fighting and crowd fighting urban actions on specific or modified mil CQC tradecraft skills sets have come back to be of interest.
We have trained combat sports fighters since the start of our combat sports school as part of our our founder, the late Harry Baldock’s Baldock Institute. We have produced a long list of champions including recently a world MMA amateur champion in Kasib Murdoch.
Caleb Steven our combat sports school head coach is an innovative developer of techniques for his fighters and he specialises in MMA specific wrestling.
Caleb has not only been a serious combat sports competitor and coach but is also a phase 2 advanced CQC/MSD exponent and has learnt his skills development over many years directly under my guidance and instruction.
Recently I have by request become back involved with combat sports coaching and this makes the days at HQ and on exported courses even more diverse.
It’s like Harry told me back in the 70s that European combat sports and especially wrestling would come back to be a major force in combat sports codes competition and that he hoped we could keep the combat sports flag flying.
Our Thailand staff had completed all the advance work and facilitation before we arrived in country and everything had been taken care of to ensure a seamless transfer from Camp Todd and Todd Group HQ training to Thailand and immediate commencement with the Thailand training exercises and continued tradecraft training components.
The course included land, air, sea and rail training exercises and an overnight stay in Bangkok on the final major rail and road exercise.
This provided some demanding planning especially for the pedestrian escort components in the hustle and bustle of some of the Bangkok locations.
Close personal protection, being a living tradecraft that must evolve and stay ahead of threats means that our courses are living evolving training packages at the forefront of specialist training requirements determined by situational and threat changes.
Enquiries for this final 2023 course and next years’ close personal protection course were coming in after we had commenced this course and during the course.
While there are those that dream and procrastinate about undertaking such an intensive specialist course, they are soon sorted out when it comes to making the commitment and making flight reservations paying for airfares and the course fee.
Just like making the D on training exercises and protective operations individuals must be able to make the decision to course join and go through with their application.
The nature of the beast is very different with close personal protection compared to our military close quarters combat and military self-defence.
The mil CQC/MSD primary actions on objective being take out/incapacitate of one’s enemy is considerably different to the objective of threat prevention by meticulous planning and preparation of operation orders based on extensive advance work to ensure as much as humanly possible anti-threat provision/avoidance primary practices are strictly applied and adhered to. The best threat in CPP must always be no faced threat.
Just like the objective of mil actions on CQC being enemy take out over our combat sports being opponent take on all our tradecraft and non-battlefield training comprises of its own objectives and has its own relevance and those that are interested in it.
There are very different stress factors with specialist close protection in the form of long hours involved with advance work and compiling of all-encompassing operation orders to provide the highest level of safety and security for your protectee.
The hours of attention to detail, time restraints and the requirement to be ready to move at any moment, combined with working on more than one set of operations at the same time put the attendees in a pressure cooker of demand that can escalate fatigue.
They simply must be able to handle stress, conduct themselves at a high level under duress and manage their personal needs and professional requirements well.
It requires attendees to be alert and take on board all instructions and orders and work as a close tight team taking advantage of individual team members strengths to ensure the final operation orders are the best they can produce and the training exercises run as fluid and flawless as humanly possible.
Simply failing to note instructions can put exponents under increased stress and they need to know how to get over such errors and move on positively.
They must be able to learn from their errors and faults and make sure they are not repeated, hence why these are specialist close personal protection courses that require extraordinary and exemplary personal and professional attributes.
Planning, preparation and practice to prevent/avoid any actions on threat against your protectee demands smarts and attention to detail, along with inner resolve. This may be a very different stress reality by the nature of the role compared with the factors of our CQC training and testing but it is demanding and stressful by its own factors and in its own right.
The course is very self revealing and identifies the individual’s capabilities to surpass the required high standards of working as a close protection specialist.
It also clearly identifies those that are struggling or are not following their lessons undertaken and need to be reminded of the importance of putting their new skills into practice as per instructed.
The important thing is they recognise the errors of their ways and amend them under training and on training exercises.
The Todd Group has maintained an uncompromising training provision modus operandi for the past 96 years and even though society may have changed, become woke and not be so hardnosed and prepared to accept orders, instructions and undertake strict and to the point training we have maintained our hard, heavy and hostile mentality.
This is most important when one’s life or others’ lives, demands mental toughness and constant readiness to conduct oneself at the highest levels of competency under threat.
We take our responsibility to prepare combatants to threat neutralise under actions on against a formidable foe in battlefield close combat very seriously and the same applies to preparing a close protection specialist to provide the highest-level capability of close personal protection to their protectee.
Anything less is not acceptable and those that cannot accept orders or instructions, respect the chain of command and conduct themselves as a valuable equal member of a specialist close personal protection detail, will not make top level close protection operators.
Like with our recruiting, course completion and testing regimes, those that have the tradecraft skills capabilities, mental toughness and selfless commitment to the protection of the protectee under their protection, will self-identify and those that have not will be identified.
While the close personal protection course is not a pass or fail course, we will not recommend any attendee that has not shown they can conduct themselves at the highest possible levels with integrity, commitment, high level competency and the highest respect for the chain of command and all their fellow attendees, superiors and protectees on course.
Everything about this training provision is about ensuring attendees receive the specialist training required to conduct themselves as a close protection specialist as well as identifying any negative traits, undesirable attitudes, hidden agendas or negative factors when it comes to working as a professional close protection specialist.
Laziness, excuse makers, individuals interfering with training delivery or assuming a false superior status to any other exponents on course are all such undesirable negatives.
Attendees need to manage their days including their down time to ensure they are alert and best prepared and capable of taking on board the considerable amount of information, orders and instructions that are all part of specialist close personal protection training.
We are fortunate to attract more individuals that are of high integrity, responsibility and attention to detail that have the desire to be the best they can be than those that don’t.
This most recent specialist close personal protection course under an updated and varied training exercise regime attended by exponents that were striving for CPP confidence and competency capabilities was of a solid standard with all terminals being completed and objectives achieved both in New Zealand and in Thailand.
Our CPP courses being small group courses enable us to continue with the provision of such specialist high level courses of instruction and already with recruiting underway for the 2024 course, interest is high and we envision the limited positions will be filled well before course commencement.
The dual country factors are most important for those that seek overseas contracts in preparing them with how to best deal with the difficulties of non-English speaking countries close protection work roles.
Working with indigenous assets as they are known in the CPP tradecraft is very important to mission success.
I would like to thank the facilitators and staff in New Zealand and in Thailand and congratulate attendees on a solid course of instruction and training exercises completed.
Upcoming courses joining information and instructions www.toddgroup.com
