SpecVIP & Frontline Tactical Combined VIP Protection Training

I wanted to take a moment to tell you about a recent opportunity we had with our industry allies and friends over at Frontline Tactical (a division of Frontline Canadian Defence Corp.). You see the folks at Frontline had a request from an overseas client to run a High Risk Close Protection Course. Now, if you are familiar with the High Risk Close Protection environment, you know the training for this is no small undertaking. First you need some fundamentals of close protection along with some pretty advanced individual and team skills in shooting, driving and unarmed combat. You also need to put it all together in a dynamic and realistic training program. To get all of that in a short time frame and adequately prepare people for a continuous threat of violence that can take multiple forms, is not an easy thing to do. But the team at Frontline not only made it happen, they did so in an exceptional manner and we were very content with our small part.

Where does SpecVIP Protection Group fit in with all of this you may ask?

Back in the spring we had run our VIP Close Protection Site Liaison Specialist course for some of Frontline Tactical’s local customers. After it was all said and done, the President of Frontline, Bernie Fitterer, was extremely satisfied with not only the course that was developed but the manner in which it was delivered.  So when his overseas client had an urgent need and Bernie had to put something together quickly, his first call was to SpecVIP to see how we could help, as there was such a short timeline. Not that he couldn’t do it himself, just that he needed a handful of experienced instructors immediately and an A-La-Carte training program that could be custom tailored for this clients needs.

Why include the VIP Close Protection Site Liaison Specialist Course?

For those that aren’t aware, our course is 2 days and focuses on many aspects of VIP Protection that allow individuals and organizations to enhance their existing capabilities. The course is based on industry standards and fundamentals of close protection, but focused on localized venue and event protection teams. In order to provide our participants with the best skills possible in a short time frame we spent over 18 months researching and isolating the most critical components and found the best way to deliver them in the shortest reasonable time frame. Although our course is a focused specialty, Bernie recognized the course had tremendous value to anyone wanting to enter the Close Protection industry, enhance their existing experience or in this case as the commencement of a more in depth course.

Our involvement- Laying the Foundation

In comparison to the entirety of the full course, our involvement was small, but if you know anything about training (or construction) our piece was in fact quite large. You see in training, much like building a house, if you don’t start out with a strong, well built foundation you will have many costly repairs to make down the road. However, if you take your time and do it right, you can build on that foundation and create something truly awesome. That’s how we like to look at our training programs and instructional methodology. Get it right the first time, then build off that and strive for more; but all based on a solid initial foundation.

In this case, our initial training package is what became the foundation and starting point for every other skill learned throughout the entire High Risk Close Protection Course. Although we weren’t a part of the remainder of the course (due to other operational requirements) all of the feedback we received was positive and all of the students were successful. Their success w

as solely based on their individual efforts and we are happy for the small part we played in laying their foundation of excellence.

A Sincere Thank you

I just wanted to conclude by saying a special thank you to Bernie Fitterer and the other great folks at Frontline Tactical. We have had a few projects together and I look forward to many more. I really appreciate the fact you invited us in on this one and can’t wait to do it again. My only regret is that it took me a little longer than planned to get this post out there.

Now here’s something I hope you really like; some awesome pictures from the High Risk CP Course!

Bonus Point

For anyone that’s in the business of training, especially in the highly competitive world of Law Enforcement, Security and Military skills; I would suggest you take a look at this relationship and see how you can do something similar. I’ve been in this industry a long time and it always seems to me, that companies are trying to climb their way up by putting everyone else down. My personal recommendation is to get over yourself and work with people instead of against them. There is always more than one way to do something and we should all be working together for a better society, otherwise what’s it all about.

Shameless Plug: If you’re interested in our VIP Close Protection Site Liaison Specialist Course, click here.

For more information on Frontline Tactical and Frontline Canadian Defence Corp. go to www.FrontlineCD.ca and you can also check them out on Facebook.

Now here’s some more awesome pictures from the High Risk Close Protection Course!

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.