Feral Jundi

Friday, March 26, 2010

Training: EDCD And Mental Resiliency Training For High Stress Operations

Filed under: Canada,Medical,Training — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:36 AM

   This is a project that Angela and company have been working on, and I wanted to get the word out about it.  I like the concept and think that this is the kind of stuff that will allow anyone in this field, or any high risk field, to continue working and effectively dealing with mental trauma when it happens.

    EDCD gives you the tools necessary to deal with the tough stuff.  Things like deploying to disaster zones like Haiti where thousands of people have been killed, surviving IED’s and ambushes in wars like Iraq or Afghanistan, or having co-workers killed or wounded in these war zones. The idea of having the tools necessary to work through these traumatic events, or even help others who have gone through these traumatic events, is something that should be in everyone’s mental kit, and there just isn’t a lot out there that goes over this stuff. The modern militaries of the west have attempted to provide these tools of coping to the troops, but for private industry, there isn’t anything.  And we have talked about that here before and Angela has wrote some great stuff about the subject.

   Also, if you look at cases like Fitzsimmons, or with some of the suicides this industry has experienced, resiliency training might be something the companies could look at.  At least have something set up to direct contractors too if you have some contracts that put people in high stress positions.  The military is constantly trying to reach out to their soldiers in order to put a stop to any mental suffering out there.  Wars and disasters can mess up a brain pretty good sometimes, and civilian contractors are experiencing some of the same war time traumas as soldiers.  Yet there is nothing being done to deal with that fact.

   Now for a disclosure. I have never been through this course and I have not read any feedback about it. So I cannot give it the thumbs up or down.  But what I would like to do is promote it and get the readership to think about this stuff.  If you have gone through the course, I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter in the comments section.  I am sure Angela will pop up too if anyone has any questions.  –Matt

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Dear Colleague,

Resiliency has become a buzz word for all of us working within security and safety professions.

TRAINING personnel to adapt and prepare for high stress operations is a priority within all sectors.

EDCD TRAINING will help your teams to achieve higher levels of operational effectiveness.  What is EDCD?

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Monday, February 1, 2010

Canada: Bodyguards And Security Agents To Beef Up Security At The Games

Filed under: Canada,Executive Protection,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 3:01 PM

   Thanks to Sunil for sending me this article, and bravo to him and his company for securing a contract for the Olympics.  Like the World Cup or Super Bowl, the Olympics can be an massive security undertaking, requiring numerous types of security professionals. If you would like to check out the opportunities, click on the highlighted links below. So lot’s of work for guys and gals up there, and good luck. –Matt

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Bodyguards and security agents to beef up security at the Games

By Ethan Baron, Vancouver Province

January 26, 2010

VANCOUVER — Celebrities and business bigwigs are hiring legions of bodyguards and security agents during their Olympic visits to protect their safety — and their reputations.

One security company has added an extra 300 staff to safeguard just a dozen high-flying clients. Many bodyguards won’t be slab-faced apes with earpieces. You may not even see the security that’s in place for CEOs and Hollywood stars — unless you get too close.

“A lot of times when we’re looking after these people, it’s not obvious that we’re there, until we have to be,” says Sunil Ram, owner of Executive Security Services International, a Canadian company with several clients attending the Games.

Although private bodyguards aren’t allowed to carry guns in Canada, those providing what’s known in the industry as “close protection” possess hand-to-hand combat skills.

Many are former police officers and soldiers. However, violence in the service of a client remains a last resort, private-security heads say.

For most who buy security services, an ugly incident with a celebrity-obsessed fan or an angry protester could cause injury beyond the physical.

“We’re not the dogs of war, we’re the cats of war,” says Mark LaLonde, a director of Canpro Global, an international “risk mitigation” company working the Games. “At the first sign of trouble, we get our clients to run away. It may be a personal safety and security issue, but it may also be something that can prove embarrassing.”

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Afghanistan: Canadian General Says Afghanistan To Regulate Private Security

Filed under: Afghanistan,Canada,Industry Talk — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:58 PM

     I love this kind of stuff, because it is a prime example of the types of market forces that not only drive places like Afghanistan, but throughout the world.  My thoughts on the matter is that if the police paid more than PSC’s and the Taliban, then more than likely, they will retain their officers.  But that would take the government of Afghanistan actually coughing up that kind of dough, or I mean, the Coalition, and actually putting their money where their mouth is.

   The other factor is free will.  Men and women who are in this business throughout the world, all have families to feed, bills to pay and dreams to fulfill.  You cannot tell a person in this industry, to work a job that pays them less than what they are worth, and especially if there is work that pays more or offers better benefits.

   This is also about choice, and maybe working for a PSC is more convenient for these guys, as opposed to the military or police. Or they don’t trust the government or maybe they don’t like being cops. The other one could be time, and maybe the police force really doesn’t have a flexible enough schedule for these guys. Everyone has their reasons. –Matt

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Afghanistan to regulate private security: Canadian general

By Steve Rennie

25th January 2010

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The greener pastures of private-security firms lure away many an Afghan cop with the promise of bigger paycheques and relatively safer work.

But now the Afghan government is drawing up new rules for private companies as it tries to stop police from leaving the force.

Canada’s highest-ranking soldier in Afghanistan says the regulations will help put the country’s police force on an even playing field with security companies.

“I don’t think anybody wants to limit anybody’s ability to choose their own destiny,” Maj.-Gen. Michael Ward, deputy commander of NATO forces training the Afghan police, said Monday.

“But when AWOL and desertion are such a big problem in the security forces, then you don’t actually want to be stimulating it by letting the competition hire them away.”

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Monday, January 4, 2010

Cool Stuff: Mantracker Versus The Barrie Police Department

Filed under: Cool Stuff,Law Enforcement,Video — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 7:08 AM

Friday, January 1, 2010

Afghanistan: Seven American Agents And Five Canadians Killed In Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Canada — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 12:44 AM

   This was a terrible day and my heart goes out to all of the families and friends of the fallen, both in the U.S. and in Canada. Rest in peace. –Matt

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Seven US agents killed in Afghan suicide attack: CIA

12/31/2009

WASHINGTON — Seven CIA agents were killed and six wounded in a suicide attack on a US base in eastern Afghanistan, the Central Intelligence Agency said on Thursday.

The US spy agency said the employees were killed Taliban bomber managed Wednesday to penetrate the defenses of a base in the province of Khost, detonating an explosives belt in a room described as a gym.

CIA chief Leon Panetta told the agency that “seven of their colleagues were killed and six others were injured on Wednesday at a forward operating base in Khost Province, Afghanistan. The casualties were the result of a terrorist attack,” the CIA said in a statement.

The agency did not reveal the names of those killed, citing the sensitivity of their work in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon said the base, used by the CIA as well as one of many provincial reconstruction teams that dot Afghanistan, was located close to the Pakistan border. Teams operating at the facility were tasked with delivering humanitarian assistance and stabilizing difficult areas.

“Those who fell yesterday were far from home and close to the enemy, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism,” Panetta said in his message Thursday.

The CIA director said US military doctors and nurses managed to save the lives of other agency workers wounded in the attack, and ordered flags at CIA’s Virginia headquarters outside Washington flown at half-staff to honor those who died.

“Yesterday’s tragedy reminds us that the men and women of the CIA put their lives at risk every day to protect this nation,” he said.

“Throughout our history, the reality is that those who make a real difference often face real danger,” Panetta said, adding that the loved ones those who died “are in our thoughts and prayers — now and always.”

The attack appeared to have killed more US intelligence personnel than have died since the start of the US-led invasion in 2001. The Central Intelligence Agency has acknowledged the deaths of four CIA officers in Afghanistan since then.

Story here.

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Canadians killed in Afghan attack

12/31/2009

Four Canadian soldiers and a journalist have been killed in an attack in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

The Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility for detonating the roadside bomb used in the attack.

The journalist has been identified as Michelle Lang, 34, from the Calgary Herald, who had just arrived on her first assignment in the country.

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