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One Specialist series-Pt. 4

There is a skillset that is incumbant upon you that are more prevailing as a single specialist than it would be if you are the detail leader or AIC overseeing a 6 man detail and a command post.  As I’ve said, when you are alone, you are all of those component built in one.  The abiltiy to navigate mentally and internally as a single specialist is the difference between pass or fail.

The daily agenda of a corporate level protectee can be overwhelming.  No matter how busy the schedule is for the day, it is my personal belief that you should have it committed to memory.  You don’t have the luxury of having other team members to dial you in on the next movement, where it will take place and having your assets ready for it.  The wheels have to be turning in your head 4 to 5 steps ahead of next couple of steps.  Even if I know we are leaving a shareholders session and know that we will be transitioning to a media event within the same venue, I am already thinking about my emergency management pathways that I have already decided will be my egress process.  Even as I am running through that in my head, I am visualizing the room set up and the players in the room.  I do this so that when I get there, I have already mentally been in the room well before I physically entered the room.  This is the same process I do with working out.  By the time I hit the parking lot of the gym, I have already gone through my workout in my head.  This process is called proactive mindset and proactive thinking.  It leaves very little guess work because you’ve already been there in you mind.  This is the differentiator between average and great.  When me and a protectee arrive at any location, I have been there twice: 1) the advance and 2) mentally.  I can not reiterate how important  forward thinking is in this business.  The one specialist has to be doing this all the time. 

The curve ball is the OTR (Off the record movement).  Do not panic.  Remember, an OTR works in your favor.  The difference is that you have to do everything that are afforded to you with a full team, all by yourself, while client is there all awhile protecting the principal.  This is when you have to manage your ability to garner information from management staff, preferably the security manager or senior venue manager without losing your ability to protect. 

In another part of this series I will discuss how to manage this process without giving up too much OPSEC and getting everything you want at your beck and call.  In 99 out of 100 occurrences they will roll out the carpet for you for a couple reasons.  They will want to make sure that the protectee is given the red carpet treatment.  In their minds and eventhough they don’t know who he/she is, they are somewhat honored by their presence.  They’ll ask who the person is and you know better not to say, however you can’t be rude or you’ll lose everything before you get it.

The difference between us and the guys that just show up and appear to be a hunk of meat is that tool box we use between our ears.  No matter how good you can shoot, how fast you can run a mile or how many times you can bench 225, if you can not proactively think on your own, everyting else doesn’t matter.

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