Close Protection - Case Studies

Name: Paul Smitham

Rank on Exit: C/Sgt

Years of Service: 22 years

Qualifications Gained: CP live firearms training

 

After more than 22 years’ Service, working with heavy weapons/SA, Paul Smitham left the Royal Marines in late 2009 as a C/Sgt. Now working as a security consultant/project manager for a USAID-funded project in Kabul, the skills gained in uniform he finds useful are ‘the ability to work in uncomfortable conditions, within a specific timeline, and to keep a level head during stressful situations – but mostly being able to keep a sense of humour when times get a little dark’.

He admits going along to his CTW with a ‘What could I possible get out of this?’ attitude, but says it helped him turn his military qualifications into ‘civvy speak’, and that the CV phase was ‘invaluable’. As part of his resettlement, he also attended a close protection course with Ronin South Africa, which was very well run and useful. ‘Potential employers’, he says, ‘insisted that I undertake training that would qualify me for high-risk, role-specific CP live firearms training – this, combined with paramedic training, is what multinational companies demand.’

His first job on leaving the Forces was with Watan Risk Management, thanks to a former RM who was working for them in a senior management position. In his current role for seven months now, he says it involves ‘managing client expectations and informing them on physical security. I am an integral member of the client management team, keeping them informed on local and national security issues.’
 

Although the long hours can be hard work, he enjoys working with like-minded colleagues (mainly ex-Forces), as they have a similar sense of humour and a professional attitude towards their work. Of civilian life, he concludes: ‘Out here, there is not the back-up you get in the Forces – it is just you, so you have to be extremely proactive and forward thinking.’

Name: Stephen Harnett

Rank on Exit: Sergeant

Years of Service: 24 years

Qualifications Gained: NVQ in Direct Training and Support

 

Having spent 24 years in the Army, working in the Infantry (3 Para, for 16 years) and the RLC Trade Postal & Courier Squadron (for eight years), Stephen Harnett left the Service in 2009 as a Sergeant. While serving in locations including Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia, his achievements included an NVQ in Direct Training and Support, he was a finalist in the TriService HM Forces DDEFLOG VQ Trust Apprenticeship Awards 2008 and won Best Achieved NVQ 2008. He was also winner of the Workforce Development Awards Judges Award (NES) 2009. While serving, he also gained a huge array of civilian qualifications, including: Close Protection Course (CRG); BTEC award in the Delivering of Conflict Management Training L3; BTEC award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector L3; and NVQ level 3 Direct Training and Support. At the time of writing (midDecember 2009), he was studying for an NVQ level 4 in Learning and Development, NVQ Assessor Award (A1).

 

Last October he started working for the Extra Mile Group – an innovative security and training company undertaking training and operational contracts for the public and private sector ¬– as a close protection instructor. ‘They have,’ he says, ‘given me the chance to instruct, to the highest ability, all the knowledge taught me throughout my military career and gained through all the courses I have taken, especially in close protection.’

 

He attended his CTW at Aldershot, which he says was ‘extremely useful – the instruction and instructor were second to none and they used their skills to turn my own knowledge into practicality. Without the help I received there I would not be in the employment I am in now. Fact!’ He also undertook a Control Risk Group (CRG): Close Protection Officer course, which he says was very valuable: ‘the instructors are all from a highprofile environment and are the most professional I have come across.’

 

In terms of translating skills gained in uniform to practical use in a civilian career, he says that his roles as a senior team leader in the fields of logistical management, training management, operational and general management equipped him with the following skills, among very many others, which will come in useful in his new job: the ability to lead, manage and administer groups of multiethnic staff in diverse and hostile conditions; he has operated in groups of all sizes in often dangerous and hazardous situations, as team leader; he has controlled and managed the receipt, despatch and security of priority marked material to British embassies and hostile locations; a proven ability to motivate and professionally develop junior team members through delegation and example; he is trained in a full range of security expertise, from patrolling skills to guarding personnel establishments worldwide; and has the capacity to meet strict deadlines with minimum resources, as well as a constant determination to achieve his objective.

In his new job as a security consultant/trainer in the delivery of conflict management training – found through ‘marketing and research taught on my CTW’ – Stephen says he is working with ‘a highly motivated and specialist team, handpicked from the military and the civilian police. I have,’ he says, ‘been given a great opportunity to work with a fantastic management team, which has invested in me and all the skills I have gained throughout my military career, and brought them together to enable me to succeed in achieving an excellent civilian future.’

 

Managing director of the Extra Mile Group, Ian Carvell, a former Special Branch officer who has worked in close protection with diplomats and royalty, says of Stephen, ‘From the moment I met him, I knew he was what we wanted. His enthusiasm for training is infectious, and the skills he has developed during his Army career, including training, were more than impressive. While he will take the lead in our close protection training courses he has much more to offer than that. He has a natural skill in motivating people: if anyone can encourage people to get on with their life when they have been down on their luck, he can. We are lucky to have him. Stephen will be the perfect tutor for young students looking for ways to find the direction they want to take in their career path and life.’

 

Stephen comments, ‘I am really enjoying my work. The training is innovative, looks to engage students in a practical sense and the company is always there to help postcourse.

We aim to make sure the courses are of high quality, and if any prospective student wishes to talk to me about them I would be glad to hear from them [see below]. The company puts a lot of time into advising students about security careers – its policy is to be honest in advising students about their suitability, the job market and career prospects. I was impressed with that. I am still learning all the time from other trainers and would encourage other soldiers leaving the Army to consider training in CP. It’s very rewarding – I love every minute of my work and I have a great opportunity to give back my knowledge to all those who ask of it.’

 

Stephen can be contacted on: 0800 098 8044.

Name: Jonathan Edom

Rank on Exit: Sapper

Years of Service: 5 years

Qualifications Gained: City & Guilds in Bricklaying and Concreting

 

With five years in the Forces behind him, Sapper Jonathan Edom decided to leave the Royal Engineers, having served in Germany and Northern Ireland, and achieved City & Guilds in Bricklaying and Concreting plus his HGV licence. His time in uniform provided him with ‘the values and positive outlook on life of a soldier: pride, self-respect, respect for others, attention to detail, the confidence that if you set your mind to it you can achieve whatever you want, and the ability to see solutions not problems’.

 

His first job on leaving was in the office interiors business: ‘I worked my way up the ladder, then the construction industry collapsed; I looked at my life and decided to make the change to close protection as I missed certain parts of Army life and, by the nature of the work, CP would bring those back – with the potential to also earn a good living.’

 

Having taken a course with security industry training consultants Wilplan Training Ltd, he is currently working as a freelance CP officer: ‘I’m doing a variety of things – one day I can be looking after jewellery at a photo shoot, the next escorting a principle to a function, or working as part of a residential security team. You need to be flexible, and able to deal with people in a calm, polite, yet assertive manner. For a job to run properly it needs to work with military organisation – one of the reasons I chose to make the change from construction to CP. Plus you still have the sense of trust and camaraderie with the other team members.’

 

In terms of pay, he says ‘the pay is better in CP, and from what I have experienced there is definitely the potential to make yourself a really good living.’

Name: Simon Brooks

Rank on Exit: WO1(RSM)

Years of Service: -

Qualifications Gained: G4S Phoenix Close Protection

 

With plans to leave the Armed Forces this month, having served in locations including Northern Ireland, Norway, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, WO1 (RSM) Simon Brooks, 43, attended a Career Transition Workshop, which he found very useful in helping to prepare his CV, and has recently completed a course with G4S Phoenix Close Protection. The course was run, he says, by ‘ex-SNCOs, and was very well conducted, as one would expect’. Following completion of the course, G4S Risk Management provided him with a work placement as a security consultant until he starts work with them full-time.

 

His current job is ‘basically an instructional post requiring good presentational skills to an international audience. It also involves mentoring students of various ages from diverse backgrounds in all aspects of the security industry. The curriculum must be delivered within budget, while maintaining standards and providing the paying customer with a satisfactory outcome.’ He welcomes the fact that ‘my colleagues are predominantly ex-Servicemen, which means we have a similar outlook and approach to work. Furthermore, the job offers a degree of stability that is frequently missing from a Service career.’

 

Thinking about how this work compares with Service life, he says, ‘It is a very responsive and adaptive environment. It is comparatively simple to make changes to course content should it need updating. There is much less bureaucracy, which is refreshing. Time off and leave are generally negotiable, and hours can be flexible if necessary.

 

The aspects of training and experience gained during his Service career that he considers useful in civilian life are ‘predominantly command, leadership and administration. Many lesser and specific skills, too, but importantly a varied Service career demonstrates flexibility and an ability to adapt.’ His current salary is ‘better, and I receive my Service pension!’