Archive for category Executive Protection

Jobs: Executive Protection Specialist 3, Illinois

Jun 11

Posted by Matt in Executive Protection, Illinois, Jobs | No Comments

This looks like a nice little EP gig for those guys living in the Chicago area. Although definitely read through the requirements below before submitting.

I am not the POC or recruiter for this job, and please follow the links below if you want to apply. Good luck. -Matt

 

 

View Job Requisition -  Executive Protection Specialist 3
Requisition Number: 12-1011878
Job Status: Activated
Posting Type: Posted Internally and Externally.
Posting Status: Available
Location: Chicago, IL
Virtual Office/Telecommute: Virtual Work Not Available
Shift: First
Business Unit: Shared Services
Division: Security & Fire Protection
Program: Enterprise – Regional Security
Occupation Title: Sec and Fire Protection Svc
Skills Management Title: Executive Protection Services
Job Classification: LAJWP3
Job Type: Non-Management
Experience Level: Career/Experienced
Exemption Status: Exempt

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Jobs: Protective Security Specialist, New York

Mar 31

Posted by Matt in Executive Protection, Jobs, New York | 2 Comments

This is a quick one. SCG is looking for EP guys in New York, and you must be able to deploy with in 24 to 36 hours. So this is all about timing, being in the right place at the right time and having the right qualifications for the job.

I am not the recruiter or POC for this. At the end of the ad, there is an email to contact. You will not see this job on their website. Good luck. -Matt

 

EMPLOYMENT CALL-OUT
Protective Security Specialist
Location: Manhattan area of New York
Reports To: PSD Team Leader??Position Summary: Provide protective security as part of a team and fixed site security in / around Manhattan area of New York.??Position Responsibilities
•    Provide close protection for designated personnel
•    Perform the day-to-day protective security functions as specified in daily post and detail orders
Essential Skills and Experience
•    US or UK Citizen
•    Must have a valid US Driver’s License and US Tourist or Official Passport
•    Completed or served at least three years in special operations  or DSS within the last five years.
•    Must be able to deploy immediately (within the next 24-36 hours). If you can’t, please don’t respond to this message.
•    Must be able to obtain a secret clearance
•    Excellent interpersonal and troubleshooting skills
•    Ability to adapt to different cultures, mentalities and circumstances
•    Trauma or advanced first aid training is required
•    Must have no felony or domestic violence conviction. Record of recent recurring misdemeanors may adversely impact candidates’ suitability rating
•    Employment is contingent upon a favorable background check
Physical Demands and Work Environment
•    Must be prepared to live and work in an New York for 30 day deployment.
•    Must be willing to work seven days a week, 12 hour shift.
•    Compensation $400 p/day, plus lodging and travel expenses.
•    Position is Independent Contractor (1099)
Application Process:
•    Submit one page resume in MSWord format to dion@scginternational.com

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Executive Protection: China’s New Status Symbol–A Bodyguard

Jan 8

Posted by Matt in Africa, China, Executive Protection | 3 Comments

This is really not news if we remember my prior posts about the rise of private security in China. But what I like about stories like this is that they identify the up and coming players in the PSC market there. Or a PSC that could easily transition into more of a PMC role for ventures in places like Africa.

Yun Hai Elite Security was mentioned in this article and they have done some big name work for celebrities visiting China. They also give their guys a ton of training and they seem to attract some high end soldiers and police. These are the companies I like to watch, just because it is not that big of a step for them to cross into the realm of doing what they do in other countries and regions. China also allows these companies to exist for a reason, and these companies are really not private per se.

The other thing I have been watching lately is China’s intense focus on Africa. Businessmen from China are canvassing that continent and doing all they can to establish roots. With the amount of projects and money they bring, there is also the security required to bring peace and stability to those endeavors. That security will either come from Chinese security companies, local police or military they have agreements with, or regional private security companies–or folks that specialize in providing security on the African continent.

In other words, I expect that the Chinese will be really hitting up South African companies and individuals for all types of work. Either protecting projects or making security assessments. I could also see the Chinese contracting with companies to help professionalize the local police and military that the Chinese would make agreements with, or to help advise Chinese security companies. The Chinese are not at all afraid to set up shop in the crappiest places of Africa to get what they need. In order to make that a success, they need the right people that know how to solve problems there.

What I am interested in though is what will the Chinese do in some of these places when the local rebels or whatever group, begin to attack and give problems to these projects. Would they contract a PMC to take care of problems? Would they soup up a local military with weapons and training to go on the offensive? How far will the Chinese go in to order to restore commerce and protect their business ventures in Africa?  Who knows and it will be something to watch as these new ‘East India Companies‘ of the modern era do their thing. -Matt

 

China’s new status symbol: a bodyguard
Hannah Gardner
Jan 8, 2012
In a badly lit housing complex on the edge of Beijing, one building burns bright late into the night.
This hall, once a community centre for workers at Beijing’s airport, is now home to Yun Hai Elite Security – one of hundreds of companies that have sprung up across China in recent years to provide bodyguards for the country’s newly minted rich.
Here until 10 every evening, six days a week, former soldiers and athletes learn the skills required to protect people who are increasing resented in this nominally communist county.
“I don’t lack clients,” says Xin Yang, one of Yun Hai’s founders and a former member of the special services in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“I have a waiting list for my bodyguards. Our trainees have a 100 per cent employment rate.”
Just over a decade ago there was little call for a business like Mr Xin’s. Politicians were more respected, international stars rarely visited and the county didn’t have a single billionaire.
Now, China is home to at least 243 individuals with assets worth more than US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) and last year the socialist state produced its millionth millionaire.

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Legal News: Security Officers, Driver For LV Sands CEO File Lawsuits Alleging Violations Of Overtime Law

Jun 15

Posted by Matt in Executive Protection, Industry Talk, Las Vegas, Legal News, Nevada | No Comments

The lawsuit claims Las Vegas Sands employed the agents routinely in excess of 40 hours per week and frequently for more than 150 hours per week.
“The defendants knowingly and willfully failed to pay the lawfully compelled legal overtime rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay at which plaintiffs were employed” in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the suit charges.

Thanks to Matt for sending me this one. Cases like this emphasize the importance of why companies should do things right or take care of their people. Now of course this company will have some fantastic lawyers working this case. But they will still get the negative press on this, and if the plaintiffs win in this case, it will set precedence, and the Las Vegas Sands Corp. will have to pay damages.

With that said, let me throw my two cents in on this matter. Besides the violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, working guys into the ground like this would certainly degrade the security of the principal(s). In my experience, anything over a 12 hour shift that lasts for weeks or months, is dumb. If these guys were working longer than 12 hour shifts, and for an extended period, that is uncool.

Personally speaking, the optimum shift schedule would be three eight hour shifts if the client can afford it. (hell, four six hour shifts would be really cool if they paid a daily rate) Weekends off are excellent as well, or even just one day off a week. Your protection force needs time to cut away from being in sheepdog mode in order to recharge, and I am a big fan of very sensible and rest conducive shift schedules.

At the most, 12 hour shifts would suffice, if cost is a factor or if it is a short term gig. Anything more, and the client is being cheap and they really do not care about the quality of their security and the welfare of their protection team. I am not alone in this thinking either, and if you go to Tactical Forums, they have an excellent thread about this topic.

Now of course there are the other issues in this case. If the company is not paying a daily rate, and paying an hourly rate, then of course they should follow state laws in regards to overtime rules. That is why I hope these guys win this one, so it can build on ‘precedence’ for this industry. Other legal cases that are similar, can draw on this one.  Perhaps even OCONUS cases can build off of this one?  You never know..

There is another point I want to bring up about overseas contracting, on land and sea.  Because this work seems to be out of the reach of any labor laws, companies seem to try and get away with all sorts of horrible labor and pay practices. With that said, if cases like this become successful, contractors can use mimicry strategy and contact the same lawyers that were successful. Litigation is one way of getting the companies to do things right, and it is only when companies pay a price for bad behavior will they then get the picture that doing things right is actually ‘cost effective’.

The downside with litigation like this is cost and time.  It is also a threat to your career, and this is why guys really don’t pursue this stuff to it’s fullest degree. The odds of success are kind of low as well, just because companies have the resources and contractors do not. The companies know this reality, and the contractors do as well. So that is why companies really don’t get too upset about this stuff.  They will drag their feet and try to make litigation as costly for the contractor as possible and the companies definitely have the advantage here. But as more class action law suits come up, where contractors get organized and pool their resources, then the scale gets balanced somewhat. It is still a fight, and most contractors choose to ‘let it go’.

Now I am not a big fan of unions, because I mostly see them as negative to the business. They are like using a hammer for surgery, and unions not only bash the poor companies, but also end up ruining the good companies as well. Nor do I want to be required to join a union and pay dues, just to work in this industry. I like being an independent contractor and not answering to groups like this.

But I also understand why unions form, and if the abuses within an industry are too great, then labor movements happen. I am a fan of preventing that from happening by promoting how to do things right in the first place. Because if companies do not do things right, then unions do happen, and these groups will certainly cut into your profit margin. Pay now, or pay later as they say….

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this goes.  If anyone has anything further to add to this story, please feel free to do so in the comments. -Matt

Security officers, driver for LV Sands CEO file lawsuits alleging violations of overtime law
By Steve Green ?11 June 2011
Nine executive security officers and a driver for Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson filed lawsuits Friday claiming violations of overtime law and other laws.
The suits were filed in federal court in Las Vegas by the Las Vegas law firm Campbell & Williams — the same firm representing fired Sands Macau executive Steven Jacobs in his lawsuit against Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd.
One lawsuit was filed against Las Vegas Sands on behalf of Vincent Burlingame, Richard Carty, James Jackson, Christopher LaCascia, James Martin, Jonathan Molnar, Benjamin Ness, DeJuan Robinson and Michael Statkiewicz.
The suit described these plaintiffs as “executive protection agents” who provide or provided security services to Adelson, his wife and children on a 24-hour basis, including frequent air travel in the United States and around the world.

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Industry Talk: STRATFOR–Protective Intelligence Lessons From An Ambush In Mexico

Jun 2

Posted by Matt in Executive Protection, Industry Talk, Mexico | 2 Comments

This is a fantastic post from STRATFOR, and I wanted to get it out there to the readership. Of course this post is in accordance with their republication policy, with two links at the beginning and at the end of this excellent article. Thanks to David for giving me the heads up about the article as well.

When this ambush originally happened, Borderland Beat put it out there and that is where I heard about it.  It is a shocking incident, because it brings up a lot of  points on the realities of the war south of the border. This was not some gang shooting a couple rounds at a rival gang in a drive by–this was a complex attack, complete with military grade weapons and a well planned and disciplined execution. This ambush was also between two drug cartels, and this ambush resulted in the decimation of the target, which happened to be the Los Zetas cartel. (the irony is that the Zetas were the guys that came from Mexican SF forces)

What this article below emphasizes is that size or weaponry is not everything in the world of convoy or psd operations. The Zetas had plenty of guns, plenty of manpower, and even armored vehicles. They lost this fight, because the attacking force knew their routes and were able to prepare an effective ambush. The Zetas also had poor immediate action drills or plans to deal with this kind of thing. Although a well executed ambush is pretty effective, no matter what IA you have.  The lesson here is how important the ‘advance’ or route planning and reconnaissance  is to the protective detail, convoy operation, or any movements through enemy territory. The Zetas got caught with their pants down in this deal, and paid a heavy price….

It also emphasized the importance of OPSEC and PERSEC.  Obviously the attacking force was able to find out when and where this Zetas movement was going to commence. The Zetas felt they had plenty of manpower and firepower to deal with any threats, and probably did not care too much about OPSEC or PERSEC.  The Zetas in this case, remind me of Poncho Villa in the Battle of Celaya, where intelligent strategy and tactics by General Alvaro Obregon defeated the frontal assault and idiotic bravado of Villa.

The other thing I wanted to add to this article that wasn’t mentioned, was the use of drugs by these combatants. After following these fights down there for awhile, I have actually come across some video that showed combatants of a cartel using cocaine before a raid. (at minute .53 in this video) This was a common act with insurgents in Iraq or even in Afghanistan, and using drugs to enhance performance or steady the nerves before an attack, is a factor to keep in mind. This simple act of using drugs, actually makes a combatant tougher to kill and more erratic or unpredictable to fight. But it also impacts their decision making, which is a huge detriment. It might explain why the Zetas were so careless in this scenario.

Stuff to think about, and for those of you operating down in Mexico, I wish you well.  You have a tough job in a very intense and complex operational environment. I also wanted to point out another source for information that has grabbed my attention. The guys at Small Wars Journal have been posting a series called the Mexican Cartel Tactical Note, by Dr. Robert Bunker and I highly recommend reading and commenting there if you can. Know your enemy…. -Matt

 

 

Protective Intelligence Lessons from an Ambush in Mexico
Jun 2 2011
By Scott Stewart
On the afternoon of May 27, a convoy transporting a large number of heavily armed gunmen was  ambushed on Mexican Highway 15 near Ruiz, Nayarit state, on Mexico’s Pacific coast. When authorities responded they found 28 dead gunmen and another four wounded, one of whom would later die, bringing the death toll to 29. This is a significant number of dead for one incident, even in Mexico.
According to Nayarit state Attorney General Oscar Herrera Lopez, the gunmen ambushed were members of Los Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel. Herrera noted that most of the victims were from Mexico’s Gulf coast, but there were also some Guatemalans mixed into the group, including one of the wounded survivors. While Los Zetas are predominately based on the Gulf coast, they have been working to provide armed support to allied groups, such as the Cartel Pacifico Sur (CPS), a faction of the former Beltran Leyva Organization that is currently battling the Sinaloa Federation and other cartels for control of the lucrative smuggling routes along the Pacific coast. In much the same way, Sinaloa is working with the Gulf cartel to go after Los Zetas in Mexico’s northeast while protecting and expanding its home turf. If the victims in the Ruiz ambush were Zetas, then the Sinaloa Federation was likely the organization that planned and executed this very successful ambush.

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Jobs: Industrial Security Asc Mgr For Executive Protection Team, Maryland

May 23

Posted by Matt in Executive Protection, Jobs, Management Positions, Maryland | No Comments

For this gig, you need a Top Secret clearance and a degree or “experience/combined education, with professional experience and specialized training commensurate with assignment“. This would be classified as being a detail leader for an EP team from the sounds of it, and would be a good job for a guy wanting to do work CONUS.

Either way, this would be a good gig for anyone on the East coast. You would probably get a lot of travel in as well. I am not the POC or recruiter for this, and please follow the highlighted links below in order to apply. Good luck and let me know how it goes? -Matt

Req ID: 201768BR
Industry Job Title: Industrial Security Asc Mgr
Standard Job Code/Title: L4524:Industrial Security Asc Mgr
Required skills:
-Effective written and verbal communication skills.
-Extensive knowledge of the Washington, DC metro area.
-Proven tactical driving and navigational capabilities.
-Knowledge and experience in law enforcement procedures and processes.
-At least five years executive protection or law enforcement experience to include tactical driving experience.
-Possess or have the ability to possess Maryland and VA Special Police Commission and concealed weapon permits
-Demonstrated ability to meet physical requirements for potential protective actions
-Proven ability to embrace and demonstrate Full Spectrum Leadership behaviors
-Ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret Security clearance

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