Live high-risk bodyguarding operational duties, following Dr. Mark D. Yates The British American Security Expert’s International’s close protection operational team two thirds of the way around the world on an extremely high risk close protection operation.
Editors Note: A very special thanks to Dr. Mark D. Yates The British American Security Expert for this Twenty-Two Dead And Several More Wounded High Risk Security Close Protection Bodyguarding article. This security information was taken from the close protection operational pre and de-brief notes taken during this security operation. The information may be old but it provides all security bodyguards and close protection officers with a fascinating insider view of extremely high risk close protection operations across several countries.
Dr. Mark D. Yates The British American Security Expert states: The age of this security close protection operation dictates it has now been de-classified from our security files. We operate this security de-classification system in order to pass on valuable security and close protection information for our new bodyguarding students. Any security close protection contract will only be de-classified after a period of 10 years minimum, and only if it breaches no client confidentialities. Every case file is rigorously checked by our security close protection experts to ensure no client confidentialities or close protection information is allowed into the public domain which could compromise operational security or the security of our close protection clients and members of their families and business associates.
Twenty-Two Dead And Several More Wounded High Risk Security Close Protection Bodyguarding. Onwards and upwards.
The security close protection contract landed on my desk on September 1994. My brief as Trans Global Security International’s chief Operational Officer, was to provide ’round the clock security and close protection for a film crew from one of the major British TV companies. The actual contract was to commence on the morning of the 8th October 1994, and was to finish on the 8th November 1994 at London Heathrow Airport. The film crew were to film a TV documentary in sane of the most dangerous countries in the world, namely the newly formed independent states of the former Soviet Union. The security contract was to take me into the Republics of The Crimea and The Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, China and finally Austria and back to the U.K. The film crew were to film the extremely dangerous activities of the local Law Enforcement Anti Mafia Task Force Special Units. This was an extremely high-risk contract. Bodyguards operating anywhere in the former Soviet Union have a very short life expectancy. Despite this factor bodyguarding was one of the major growth industries. I could see a million and one problems which would have to be overcome. The first major problem was that the contract was to begin at 1 a.m. on the morning of the 8th October, a problem in so much as that my other security close protection contract in Florida, USA only had me landing back in the UK a few hours before having to fly out again to the former Soviet Union.
Still, life is never easy, and sometimes this is the way the dice land, and all problems have to be resolved, especially with the threat level being though the roof. i.e. The last security close protection operational trip to this part of the world saw four killed and eleven seriously wounded, (bodyguards and VIPs) in two separate incidents. Not many people, including professional bodyguards realise quite how dangerous this part of the world is.
The sad thing is that we are seeing more and more so called professional bodyguards from the UK looking at becoming close protection operational in the former Soviet Union. Most of these security bodyguards have only completed anything from one to four weeks close protection training, which is usually taught by self proclaimed executive protection experts, who base their training syllabus on Hollywood type glamour and bullshit. Lots of these so called bodyguarding experts seem to allocate a portion of their syllabus to slagging off other instructors and their methods, behind their backs of course. This is usually to cover up their own inadequacies and lack of personal hands on operational experience. The result of the low instructional skills is that lots of bodyguarding students are being ripped off and seeking to enter the professional arena before they are anywhere like close protection operational ready.
Normally I don’t stand on any platforms, trying to solve the world’s problems, but this is one topic that pisses me off more than anything else. The reason being that most of these unfortunate bodyguard students contact my company after spending hundreds, or sometimes thousands of pounds with other supposedly expert training companies and then expect us to place them straight into a highly paid job with all the best fringe benefits. You have to get real, if you have invested your money in a bodyguarding company that does not teach you realistic bodyguarding skills, why should you expect another company who haven’t received any payment to bail you out. There are very few private companies in the UK that can prepare students to a standard high enough to enter the international professional arena. It’s your money, so check out your training ~ very carefully. Don’t be hoodwinked by companies who rely on previous history as a testimonial to their ability. Previous history is not going to save your life, or the lives of your VIP or team ~ Also don’t be fooled by instructors ~o fill you full of bullshit about how good they are, and how they have looked after all types of clients, but can’t disclose details because of the so called client confidentiality code.
This is utter bullshit and unfortunately a very convenient umbrella for non operational instructors to hide under. A training company’s history is not worth a toss if the company doesn’t employ live operational instructors who can bring realism into the training, this is the proportion of the training which will help to keep you alive. Check out carefully where your instructors have received their Instructor’s Certification. I personally know of many instructors who have never done a days professional bodyguarding in their lives, nor are they qualified to instruct, yet they continue to extract large amounts of hard currency from unsuspecting students. Ask to see rent copies of the instructor’s most recent Instructor Certification Diplomas. If they are pro instructors they will usually be proud to show you their proof. Also check that your instructor is qualified to teach each particular subject. If you are being taught firearms skills, then ask to see their National Rifle Association Range Conducting Officers Certificate. To receive this, the instructor has to pass a written and practical test at the NRA’s H.Q.
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A point worth remembering is that an instructor or range conducting officer has to pass a separate exam in each of the shooting disciplines, i.e. pistol, rifle, shotgun, sporting rifle, moving target. As a point of interest, I only know of one other executive protection instructor in the UK besides myself who holds a Range Conducting Officers Certificate in all shooting disciplines, yet there are lots of instructors teaching firearms to students on bodyguard courses. The same goes for all the other bodyguard skills.
As a result of the hundreds of letters and phone calls that Trans Global receives, we were ~ to seek the active co-operation of some of the top executive protection officers from around the world to assist in the formation and running of The Law Enforcement Bodyguard Association, which is rapidly becoming the world’s most elite association specifically dedicated to improving the executive protection industry, and giving all its members the chance to network with fellow world wide professionals, who are all actively involved in the operational side of the industry. There is no other body or organisation which boasts so many professional senior members.
Note From: Dr. Mark D. Yates The British American Security Expert. The introduction of the British Governments SIA licence for British close protection officers has gone a long way to eradicating the problems of cowboy close protection instructors and companies.
Now that I’ve got that out of my system lets get back to the contract.
September 17th 1994 saw me meeting up with one of my team members who had flown over from Ireland to Manchester Airport to join me for a direct flight to Florida for a three week security close protection tour. Due to my various overseas excursions with firearms, the airport customs and tactical unit checked me through with the minimum of fuss. We were to be guests of a good friend of mine, Mr. John Henry, a British bodyguard chauffeur; and Mr. Gregory Gonthier, one of the most professional close protection officers it has been my pleasure to know. Greg was the chief close protection officer for two and a half years to General (Storming) Norman Schwarzkopf, before, during and after the Gulf war. During his career his close protection duties included President Bush, Vice President Quayle, General Powell, Queen Elizabeth and Prime Ministers Thatcher and Major to name a few. The beauty of networking contacts around the world means that you always have someone locally on the ground to meet you. It’s even more of a bonus when one of your friends meets you in a full stretch White limousine.
This first six days in Florida were to attend a prestigious annual training seminar of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. This is to give professional instructors the opportunity to enhance and refresh their skills. A total of twenty six different instructors practical and theory courses were on offer, including instructor certification in some new topics. A total of 350 professional participants attended from 7 countries and 37 states in the USA. There is no finer way to upgrade your instructional skills than through attendance at prestigious law enforcement and close protection seminars in the USA. It also gives you the opportunity to be put through pre operational training by some of the finest specialists in the world, in a country where the firearms laws are very liberal.
The second and third weeks were a mixture of meetings with various executive security and close protection company representatives, and further pre operational training duties, which included range visits to Orlando police and the Miami Metro Dade Police SWAT training departments, another perk of having friends in the right places. During the last two weeks two separate executive close protection jobs were undertaken, one for a Saudi Princess, the other for a well know TV celebrity. On the drive to Miami with the President of PSI Greg, the job was discussed, it came as no surprise that all the problems encountered were the result of other peoples’ lack of close protection professionalism. No matter what part of the world you are protecting a fee paying client in, the problems seem to be the same, don’t use outside agency bodyguards Bodyguarding is different the world over which leads to inconsistencies in close protection training. It’s better to stick to working with other close protection officers who have received the same bodyguarding training as you. This also minimises ‘Op’ Sec.’
On the October 1994, I landed back at Manchester Airport to be greeted by one of my close protection operational team who had organised my equipment which I needed to take with me to the former Soviet Union. I was driven to our weapons range to meet with four other members of my bodyguard team for a pre-briefing. After a brief meal, I was driven back to spend approximately 2 to 3 hours with my family, just enough time to unpack and repack my change of clothes and to check my four firearms and ammunition and visas etc. No sooner was I ready to leave, than a Fax arrived from my contact in the Crimea, a serving Police Officer. The Fax stated, firearms paperwork in order, senior state security and customs officers will meet you and your party at Kiev Airport, “twenty patients have been admitted to Simferopol hospital suffering from cholera, suggest you take necessary precautions”. This was one of the pre operation checks that had not been covered, proving the age old saying that you should expect the unexpected. Cholera in Europe in 1994 was not an everyday occurrence.
A matter of hours later after meeting the film crew at Heathrow Airport, I was checking my weapons and ammunition with airport customs when the camera man and Director were swooped upon by members of the airport security team. In their infinite wisdom they were seen to be filming in a classified part of the airport. Despite all kinds of protests, the video tape was taken from them and confiscated. They were lucky not to be arrested.
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I could see that this trip was going to have lots of problems, here we were 30 minutes into a four week extremely high risk contract and woof the film crew were caught acting like a pair of Japanese tourists. It made me worry about how these people who had a total lack of security awareness could compromise us in a strange and dangerous land. I decided there and then that once we got to our first destination, I would have to sit them down and tell them the standard VIP do’s and don’ts’ story. I knew for sure that it was going to be a very long four weeks.
We were met at Borispil Airport in Kiev by one of the most senior ranking and most respected KGB officers in The Ukraine, who had authorised customs security clearance through another good friend of mine, the chief of Airport customs. Looking at all the equipment that the film crew had, I could see that the first problem was going to be getting past the groups of Mafia, both in and outside the airport. I need not have worried, for six of my Ukrainian bodyguard team were waiting for me. These were – of the most dedicated and professional bodyguards ever to come out of the Ukraine, they are all ex KGB Alpha Team members who now run their own companies in Kiev, a good solid company that employs approximately 120 staff, mostly bodyguards. Now when I tell you that all their trainee bodyguards have to train with them for three years with regular theory and practical examinations, during which time lots of students are binned, then you will begin to understand just how good their bodyguarding graduates are. The company has the highest standards and more importantly the highest of Government and Police connections; Instructors of the company include former Presidential Bodyguards, KGB Alpha Team Senior Instructors and serving members of the Government’s Anti Terrorist Units.
We were driven to a large hotel in Kiev, where the rooms were booked under the names of State Security Officers. Once all the kit was off-loaded we were driven to a classified location outside of Kiev for a pre operation briefing, followed by a banquet. At the pre brief I had never seen so many close protection, intelligence and special forces specialists in the one room. Every major organisation was represented, police, Alpha, State Security, Anti terrorist, military, customs and the private sector. I was really proud; this was exactly what the Law Enforcement and Bodyguard Association International LEBAI was all about, fellow professionals helping each other. The first major hiccup was that there was a fuel shortage at Kiev Airport, so flights to Simferopol were cancelled; this meant that we would have to catch the overnight 20 hour express train the following day. Besides being a major problem from a close protection officer’s point of view, the journey in itself was an absolute nightmare. Soviet trains are not renowned for being exactly luxurious, and the in-house sanitary conditions would make most people pray for a bout of constipation. The biggest problem was that of armed Mafia bandits, and that of drunken nuisances. Everyone has their own method of dealing with the train journey; the Ukrainian male population drink vast quantities of cheap vodka, champagne, wine and beer and amble about the train in a semi conscious state becoming a general pain in the arse. The only up side to being in this state is that they don’t seem to be bothered by the armies of cockroaches, mosquito’s and other bugs that have taken up permanent residence on the great iron horses, nor are they bothered by the toilet facilities.
Fortunately the train journey was uneventful and I even managed the rare luxury of getting some sleep. My body clock was zapped. America to the UK, to Austria to Kiev, to the Crimea consecutively, meant covering not only a lot of mileage but travelling through five different time zones. The platform at Simferopol station was full of Joe Public as normal but everybody was giving the “Falcon” Anti Task Force in full combats a wide berth, amidst the group of faces I could see my colleague a AB a serving major and instructors of the Presidential bodyguard team. We were now in the capital city of the Crimea, a city with a population of approximately 300,000 people, mostly Russians, a city that I would consider to be one of the most dangerous places in the world today. We were driven to the KGB major’s office were we discussed the schedule with our Crimean bodyguard team leaders and MVD police officers. I was given a two hour update on the Mafia and criminal activities. For the first nine days I was to remain (O.I.C.) Officer in charge of the protection team, but was in fact to hand over the daytime day to day running of things to the major. Daytime tasks for the first five days was to honour Trans Global’s request from the Minister of Interior to put the “Falcon” unit through an intensive training programme in dynamic room entry, task force vehicular hostage rescue, SWAT, injured officer high risk extraction and vehicular arrest and restraint techniques.
Because of the huge escalation in Mafia activities, specifically extortion which in turn led to a huge increase in kidnappings, shootings, contract killings and terrorist attacks, the MVD senior officers had formed the correct conclusion that the only way to combat this threat was by the formation of specialist anti Mafia task forces. The Crimean police formulated an elite 150 man unit called the “Berkut or Eagle” force, this was part of a larger Berkut force of 450 men based in Kiev; all members are trained in the same methods and act as a backup unit to each other. This unit is a high profile police unit recognisable by their camouflage BDUs, red berets and distinctive Eagle arm patch. This elite unit has a very selective entry process much of which is based on physical unarmed and armed combat skills. Recruits are issued with black berets and only after rigorous testing and examination lasting up to 3 years are they awarded the coveted red beret. This unit can be deployed anywhere in the Republic of the Ukraine.
The Crimean Minister of Interior, himself a very distinguished military commander and special forces veteran with four tours of duty under his belt in Afghanistan, decided that the MVD police force needed another smaller rapid response anti Mafia task force. After various consultations the idea of the “Cokon” or Falcon unit was spawned.
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It gave me a great deal of personal satisfaction and pride to know that the operational team leader and commander was a very close friend and (LEBAI) member, a very capable Lieutenant.
Because of the everyday realistic fear of reprisals to the task force ~ I will refer to them only as Mr. A, B, C, etc. Mr. B was an ex Russian Airborne Spetsnaz officer who holds a master of sport degree in boxing and kick boxing, he was also one of my former fellow instructors in executive close protection duties and SWAT courses in the Crimea.
The Falcon unit was initially to be a high risk six to eight man unit. They would be tasked with most of the “Hot Raids” on known Mafia addresses; they would also operate covertly in undercover operations in other areas.
The first day of the “Falcon” training in western task force methods was taken up with individual weapons skills, progressing up to operating as a two man team. Every member of the unit was an excellent individual participant, but they had not mastered the skills of operating as a team. By the end of training on day two, they had passed up from two man squads to the basics of a six man team. Their previous military discipline and professionalism was starting to shine through. I went back to my close protection duties that evening feeling quite happy and content. That was until the Major informed me that the TV film Director had taken it upon himself to contact what is apparently known in TV circles as a “Fixer”, and arranged to meet him in the hotel Moskva in the city centre. This Fixer was not known to me or the Major or indeed any of the close protection team. This was also not a conventional security close protection job were the VIP had the say in “what, where, when and how” and could change his mind at a moments notice. My advice to the Director was that I could not effectively provide good enough security or close protection at such short notice at an unchecked location, and as such it would not be wise to go, alternative arrangements could be made. He would hear of no such thing and wanted to go anyway, he was a 26 year old, university educated man of the world, who informed me he would be okay. I further advised him that I could not provide him with a bodyguard and if he went he would be breaking the terms of our contract, and would be leaving himself wide open. He didn’t even speak one word of Russian and English speaking Russians in this part of the world are as rare as rocking horse shit. Even so he was adamant, so off he went.
I provided a security driver for him and instructed the driver to pick him at 9.30 p.m. At 10 p.m. he arrived back drunk as a skunk after spending an evening talking like a tourist to a group of strangers, who told him that they were having problems with a Mafia group. I cringed to myself as I wondered just how much he had unwittingly compromised the rest of our close protection operation. In my experience the majority of young university graduates are so highly educated that their brain doesn’t have any room for common sense, naivety is also a stumbling block. Having said all this, I realised that maybe I was to blame for letting him fall into a false sense of security. He seemed to think that because I had surrounded him with some of the finest close protection and special forces specialists around, and kept him sheltered, that there wasn’t any danger out there. The harsh realities of just how dangerous and brutal a situation we were in was brought home to us all just 10 hours later.
The following morning I was greeted with devastating news from the Falcon unit. The night before when the safety of one of my people had been on my mind, two Mafia bandits forced an entry into the home of MVD Police Colonel Kulinyak. The Colonel was a very active anti Mafia policeman, a second (OIC) of the task force. The bandits entered his house whilst he was relaxing with his wife and three sons aged 16, 14 and 5. The bandits were armed with Kalashnikovs and pistols. They threatened to kill his children, and when he begged them to spare their lives, they took the 5 year old and tied him up and made him watch as they tied everyone else up and put a noose around the Colonel’s wife’s neck and hung her from the ceiling and kicked the chair out from under her until she died. They then shot the 16 year old through the head, and then shot the 14 year old though the head as well. For same strange reason they then abducted the Colonel, drove him to another location and shot him through the head also. Because this was directly linked to my activities with the task force I was privy to the scene of crime, let me tell you that it was not a pretty sight at all, by the time the police video camera man arrived a large pool of blood had oozed out around the face of the 14 year old. I have not come across a more senseless and brutal act at any time in my career. The harsh reality of the depths that Mafia bandits will stoop to, are so unbelievable that I retained a copy of the scenes of crime video of this, and approximately eight to ten other graphic Mafia incidents. This is to bring home the harsh realities to any potential bodyguards who are thinking of seeking bodyguard jobs in this part of the world without being properly trained. This video was given to the Law Enforcement and Bodyguard Association International to act as a training aid. This footage is unavailable anywhere else and contains same very graphic death and Mafia arrest scenes. Because of the graphic nature of this video it is only available to security, close protection officers and serving police and anti terrorist units.
The only up side to this true story is that the task force managed to arrest the two Mafia bandits named Andreichenko and Errzhutszi who committed these crimes, and they are now in a Ukrainian jail where they will stay until the court finds them guilty. Once the verdict is in they will face execution by firing squad. As you can imagine the Falcon unit were devastated by this news, but they all wanted to persist in their training, but the day passed very slowly. The following day was a lot easier as they seemed more determined than ever to improve on their training skills. At approximately 2 p.m. Lieutenant (Mr B) received an intelligence report about armed people entering a Mafia safe house and a further informants report of another Mafia reserve safe house which was unoccupied.
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The unit that I was training was immediately dispatched to carry out a hot raid on the first address, whilst a four man reserve unit was despatched to the second address, merely to take up operation duties. The main unit were able to arrest the Mafia bandits and seize a quantity of firearms, ammunition and hard currency without any casualties. As the reserve unit exited their vehicle at the operation address, a Mafia bandit opened up on full auto with a Kalashnikov hitting one of the task force members in the head. The bandit then adopted the Mafia standard operating procedure of dropping his weapons and fleeing the scene of crime. The wounded officer died a few hours later from severe head injuries. To this date the bandit has not been apprehended. Five dead in two incidents all linked directly and indirectly to our security, law enforcement and close protection activities.
I was starting to get a little anxious, besides being concerned about the safety and security of the film crew, I have to admit that I was becoming slightly concerned about my own personal safety. I began to wonder how long it would be before the Mafia got around to discussing my funeral arrangements’. This was not manic paranoia, but professional paranoia and realism, if they execute a Colonel and his innocent family, then how long before they decided that it would make sense to execute the English close protection firearms instructor who was training the task forces to combat the Mafia threat.
I have long ago abandoned all expectations of becoming a hero, they say that it is exemplary to become a hero, the unfortunate reality is that the graveyards are full of exemplaries. In times like this I try to adhere to the first principle of the Trans Global Security’s philosophy, which is, that it is the aim of the professional bodyguard to finish the contract, to all arrive back intact, free from physical danger and embarrassment and to be well paid. I was looking forward to leaving the Crimea as we were starting to attract more attention than I thought was healthy.
Four of the things left on the film crew’s schedule were causing my greatest security concerns:
i) They wanted to visit a school and interview school kids about the Mafia and their activities.
ii) They wanted to visit the main market and film there also.
iii) They wanted me to arrange for them to accompany the MVD Criminal Police on a night shift.
iv) They wanted to accompany an operational bodyguard team escorting a VIP to another town. At a first glance the above points wouldn’t raise much concern from most people however, most close protection officers don’t know this part of the world. Let me just briefly analyse the four points.
1. Interviewing school children about Mafia activities caused me my greatest worry. Kids are kids irrespective of where they live, and by the end of the day every kid in the school would know, by 5 p.m. all their friends would know, by 6 pm every Mafia criminal would know. A tactical decision was called for, without notifying the film crew every excuse under the sun was produced to make sure that this visit did not take place until I knew exactly when we would be leaving the Crimea. Only on our final day did I make the arrangements for a last minute school visit.
2. Filming in the busiest market was my next concern. The majority of all street level Mafia activity takes place in or around the market place. This is the one place that can guarantee that all Mafia and the other criminal groups would be in attendance. I have conducted close protection security details in markets around the former Soviet Union before, and it’s an absolute nightmare. Because of the high criminal activity in the markets there is usually an on site police H.Q., besides uniformed armed police. There are also individual undercover and teams of undercover task force units operating there. Also you will occasionally find covert units of state security mingled in with the crowd. All in all it would not be an easy detail. It was a mammoth task just to co-ordinate our visit with the law Enforcement structures. The main worry was that the film equipment was worth many thousands of pounds; which in itself was a good enough reason for any one of the criminal groups to consider an armed robbery attack. This operation took considerable planning and was also scheduled for the latter part of our stay. For the security close protection duties I drafted in members of the Falcon unit, a couple of State Security Officers and members of the MVD police. The Falcon (OIC) liaised with the (OIC) of the market police, and in we went. If ever anyone is going to get you noticed in a Soviet market place it is a film crew walking around like they are filming a tourist resort. Another tactical ploy was called for, which involved separating the film crew camera man from the film Director and sound specialist. Fortunately the main camera man knew what it was all about and just got on with it when his two colleagues were unavoidably detained on the other side of the mountains near Yalta. This reduced the entourage down to the camera man and the translator and effectively reduced the risk.
By the time the others arrived the camera man had finished what I had instructed him to film and was wrapping up. Another security nightmare episode safely concluded, but not without coming to the attention of the Mafia.
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However the speed with which we executed the filming meant that we were in, out and away in forty five minutes, which didn’t give any one from the Mafia time to plan any attack.
3. The only possible way to accomplish this request was again to ditch the rest of the film crew and just take a single camera man; I would then be able to manage the task on my own. Through my contacts in the MVD I was able to arrange for us to accompany a 4 man armed response police unit. Ten minutes into the shift, true to form an old man came running into the unit’s H.Q. to report a man running~ amok with an axe cutting people up. Ours and another squad car raced to the scene, sirens and lights flashing, three officers were armed with A.K.S.U.s and Makarov 9mm pistols. The Colonel and I were armed with 9mm pistols, because of the extreme high risk; the camera man who was an ex Rhodesian special forces vet was carrying one of my spare pistols. After driving at speed for approximately 10 minutes I started to think that things were not what they should be. I couldn’t believe that an old man had run about a 30 minute race to report a frenzied axe attack. Five minutes later we cut the sirens and lights and crept into the street. The old man was told to stay in the squad car, as soon as we were close to the house we de-bussed, adrenaline was flowing, Kalashnikovs were racked and ready, pistols were also ready. Typical Soviet houses usually have large steel gates which are always a problem. Something wasn’t right at all, it was far too quiet. When we got to the gate, dogs started barking which brought two women out, they assured us noting was wrong. It was then that I looked around and saw the old man disappearing around the corner.
It turned out to be a false alarm; the old man was a mental patient on release. We answered a few other calls before checking back at H.Q. The only other incident we answered was a violent domestic assault in the city centre. One of the other response vehicles was not so lucky. One of the officers tried to flag down a motor cycle with two people on it; the bike slowed but didn’t stop, one of the officers pulled the passenger off the bike who then started shooting at the police. The officer drew his pistol and shot the guy in the stomach once. The criminal went down screaming for help, the officer ran up to offer medical assistance. As he got to him the criminal shot the officer again in the head, the officer died on the way to hospital.
4. Accompanying the operational team was no fun either. I managed to jack the film crew up with a team of six bodyguards all of whom I had trained on my previous visits.
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The team was headed by 2 friends of mine both were full time bodyguards to the President of the Aviation federation. They were escorting a VIP to a town approximately 1 hour drive away; he had a business meeting and a restaurant appointment. Everything was fine until the VIP wanted to visit the market. Halfway around a man broke through the crowd and attempted to draw a pistol. One of the bodyguards disarmed, and dropped him, three of the bodyguards drew their pistols as the other bodyguards quickly evacuated the VIP. The man on the floor produced a police ID card and the Bodyguards let him up, What followed was a Mexican standoff. Luckily enough the bodyguards also had police ID and managed to sort it out amicably. It seems the undercover cop thought that the escort team were part of a Mafia group and decided to challenge them. It appears the world still has heroes.
Prior to leaving Simferopol I was summoned to the Minister of Interiors office, he wanted me to pay a visit to the Berkut special forces base before I left, because one of the raid team had been shot through the head and killed; This officer had been the lead man in the entry team on a raid on a Mafia bandit’s apartment. Apparently the bandit had turned his apartment into a fortress, so much so that it took the entry team 2 hours to gain entry into the apartment. The lead man in, was shot through the head. Other members of the entry team shot and killed the bandit. A large amount of weapons, ammunition, grenades and volumes of combat literature were seized. This took our death total to seven of our people.
Next stop Kiev, capital of the Ukraine for 3 days of firearms and close protection teaching. The first day was to be a day of classified instruction at the KGB Institute, the film crew were not allowed with me. The only other Westerners to ever to teach in this prestigious institute were the special operations executive protection team of the President of the United States of America.
Find the follow up to this article Twenty-Two Dead And Several More Wounded High Risk Security Close Protection Bodyguarding by Dr. Mark D. Yates The British American Security Expert at the www.closeprotectiongz.com.
Footnote From: Dr. Mark D. Yates The British American Security Expert. When considering Twenty-Two Dead And Several More Wounded High Risk Security Close Protection Bodyguarding in the former Soviet Union, it should be crystal clear that this close protection arena is always high to extremely high risk. If anyone tries to hire you and your fellow security close protection team into this geographical region on the pretext of it being a low to medium risk contract, walk away because someone, somewhere is lying to you.
It could be a ploy to get you to provide the close protection contract at a cheaper rate than others. Or it could be a more sinister reason. Either way don’t take the close protection contract