Body For Hire; The Complete Bodyguard Training Series

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Product Description

Several years ago I recruited a number of world class, experienced military and law enforcement professionals for a new training project. These instructors were drawn from the former ranks of the U.S. Army's DELTA force, the U.S. Department of Energy's top-secret security service, and some of America's most active law enforcement SWAT teams. Each instructor came to Hawk East, Inc.'s training program with special talents and skills as the country's best teachers. The VIP Protection Specialist Training Course comes from this program. Most on-site VIP Protection Specialist training courses cost thousands of dollars to attend. Now, you can begin your training for a fraction of that price. This DVD set contains all three videos comprising the complete Body For Hire VIP Protection basic course.

Roger Hair, President of Hawk East, Inc.

Body For Hire; The Complete Bodyguard Training Series Review

"Body For Hire: The Complete Bodyguard Training Series" by Hawk East, Inc. is a video and text program on the basics of executive protection. The instructors Tom Carter, Jr., Roger Hair, Rick Reynolds, Dave Bartram, and Bill Thompson all have a wealth of knowledge and they share quite a bit in this program. For the individual who wants to know more about the field of executive protection, this would be a good place to start. For someone who took a course from Hawk East, this is a good refresher to have. I also want to say right up front that I like that Roger Hair put a dedication in memory of Tom Carter, Jr. in the case. I was familiar with Carter's work and remember when he was killed in Iraq in 2004. I respect him, his knowledge, and his service to our country.

The first part of this review will focus on the three-volume DVD set. I'll point out a few of my complaints regarding these DVDs first, and then get on to what I liked about them, and there is much more good than negative, and the negative as you'll see is all about the production values not content.

These DVDs were first recorded on VHS and then transferred to DVD. Most of us that watch DVDs are accustomed to fancy menu pages, being able to skip to certain parts of the program, and so forth. You don't get that with this program, and that is my biggest complaint. There is a ton of information here, and it would be more user friendly if you had a menu and could skip right to the topic you want to watch. So even though they are DVDs, it is like watching a VHS tape with no menus, scene selection, etc.

Enough with that, you get the point. Now on to the good, and there's a lot. The instructors do a very good job of presenting a lot of information for those who wish to learn about executive protection. They present well and the audio and picture is clear. Most important, other than some equipment that might be outdated, the information they present is sound and valuable. I'll now go through the three volumes individually with what they contain.

The first disc, volume 1, is almost entirely in the classroom. The only portion of this volume not in the classroom is a short segment with Rick Reynolds outside searching a vehicle. With that said, they did a good job of filming and editing the classroom material with different views of the speakers and cut-aways to the students so you were not just looking at the same scene then entire time. Now to the good stuff, the contents of the classroom instruction.

Roger Hair, Tom Carter Jr. and Rick Reynolds are all very knowledgeable on the subject matter and they dispel many myths about the executive protection field with their training. They are not there to create knuckle dragging bone crushers, but rather educated, articulate, motivated professionals that are willing to take on the responsibility of keeping clients safe. I like that they point out that 90% of the job is advance work and keeping clients away from threats.

This is a basic course, but as Carter says, "Basics are important." During the equipment selection portion, things such as how you dress, weapons, holsters, body armor, briefcases, and sunglasses are discussed. Some of the gear and equipment discussed in this program may be outdated. To dismiss the series because of this would be foolhardy, since the reasons behind the equipment are still valuable to know. Basic terminology is discussed. Again, this is a basic course and some people will not be familiar with these terms, so I'm glad they were included.

Client assessments and types of security are gone over. This volume also includes a segment on searching for bombs with ways to search consistent and thorough. Protective formations and planning are discussed. Things such as team placement and principles when under attack are taught. The instructors go over motorcade security and drivers.

I really like that the instructors point out that much of security work is not glamorous. It's not all Hollywood action.

The second disc, Volume 2, moves outside with Dave Bartram instructing a class on firearms training at the range. He teaches basic firearm principles, including Weaver stance, target selection, using sights, shooting on the move, and weapon retention. With all of these, you can't become proficient by just watching the DVD. You must get out and practice. Preferably with an instructor, and then use the DVD as refresher material for your continued training. There is also a section on auto glass ballistics that I liked. Good information if you ever have to shoot at or from an automobile. The firearms training takes up about the first hour of the DVD.

The program then continues with vehicle operations and covers things such as vehicle pre-flights, vehicle selection, and evasive driving. They show diagrams of vehicles doing L Turns, J Turns, and Reverse 180s, as well as showing actual vehicles doing them, and inside views of the drivers putting the vehicles through these tactics. Again, you won't be proficient by just watching, you need to have a safe place to practice these. If you can attend a school, that is best, and use this as review material. If not, do what they teach in a safe place and learn these before you ever need them for real. They also cover ramming techniques and clearing distances.

The last short section is back in the classroom where they demonstrate how to extract the principle from danger and discuss non-verbal alerts who can set up with your client.

Disc three, Volume 3 of the set, starts out with Bill Thompson demonstrating and walking you through a vehicle bomb search. It's a 26 minute segment that helps you understand what to look for and where when searching vehicles for explosive devices.

Next, Roger Hair discusses basic dining etiquette. If you are familiar with dining at fancy places, you may know this. However, if your dining experiences are fast food places, you will want to take heed and learn what is taught here before you attend a fancy meal with a client.

Bill Thompson returns to discuss communication equipment. He goes over a lot of information, some of which might be dated due to the advances in equipment. Regardless, he brings up some very important points you should consider when selecting equipment that is available today.

The final segment is a lecture by Tom Carter in front of a podium with a black background. Carter is not the most energetic or animated speaker, and he does use notes, but he also imparts a wealth of information. It's not exciting information, but it is important for the security trade. Much of the lecture is on safeguarding proprietary information for your clients. He discusses threat assessments, securing living areas, and surveillance and counter-surveillance. There was also a short section on hotel selection with scenes inside a hotel before finishing the lecture back at the podium with black background.

I did find that this third disc ended a bit abruptly at 1:55:50. There was no real conclusion, the program just went to some resources for additional information.

Despite the lack of menus, scene selection, and "flash" so many DVDs contain, I found this set to be very informative with basic information that is extremely important for the executive protection professional. It's not exciting or glamorous, but indeed vital for the job.

Workbook:

In addition to the three DVDs, Hawk East has compiled a large workbook to accompany the video presentation. Like the DVDs, the workbook is no frills, but full of useful information. It's not really a book, but rather a large three ring binder containing many "chapters" on various topics. It's more like the workbook/binders you receive when attending a seminar our course, rather than a text book. The pages have a photo copy look, but are still dark and readable. Regardless of format, it's the information that's important, and there is a lot here.

Again, this is a workbook you receive at a seminar or training, so it does not "flow" like a book, but rather has sections on various topics. These sections include:

Conduct, Responsibilities, Dress and Gifts
Cause of Assassinations and Methods of Attack
Terrorist Operations
Organization of Protective Details
Concentric Rings of Security (Security Perimeters)
Protective Security Formations
The Advance Agent, Site Survey, and Quick Advances
Motorcade Formations, Agent Duties, and Vehicle Procedures
Terrorist Surveillance
Introduction to Explosives and Explosive Devices
A large final section containing an Executive/Witness Protection text.

A lot of the text is in outline form, and there are pages with simple diagrams to help illustrate main points. Additionally, there are some check-lists to help you with certain tasks.

It's not a book to sit down and read cover to cover, but rather to study sections to actually learn and then be able to implement the concepts into your security job. The book would be best when accompanied by an instructor in class. Some of the things in the outline would best be gone into greater detail by an instructor for those that are unfamiliar with certain concepts. A person can still learn a lot through self-study of the material, it would just depend on the student's motivation to learn. Like things in the DVDs, for a person to really understand and be competent with the skills, the person would have to actually practice doing the tasks and procedures. It would be a good idea to make copies of some of the check-lists and go do some actual practice.

The "Body For Hire" DVDs and workbook by Hawk East contain a wealth of information for the security professional. Do they contain everything a person needs to know? Of course not. No one program does. They do provide information on a variety of skills and topics, some of which the professional will want to delve into much deeper than the instructors or text were able to do in this program. There are also different ways to do some things. Just because someone does something different than presented here, does not make either one wrong, just different. Knowing different ways to do things is also important.

There are several groups of people I feel will most benefit from this set. First, the person who is interested in Executive Protection and Security, but does not know anything about the field other than the misconceptions perpetuated by movies and television. This is a good introductory course that will dispel many myths and provide a sound grasp of basics. This course alone won't make you an expert, but it is a good start. It will let you know what kind of further training you will want to attend. Second, this set is a good refresher and review course for the person who has attended classes by Hawk East or any of the instructors in the course. If you attend live training, you can't remember everything they throw at you in the short time frame, so having this to review is great. Third, this is a good addition to the executive protection and security expert's library. As a professional, it is your duty to continue to train and learn. This is a good investment to go alongside your other security and protection resources.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D. Former Army paratrooper and sniper. Author of the Lock On: Joint Locking Essentials series.

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