PSD HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING

Let's start this with this question;

"...why are more people not doing it..?"

I suppose the reasons are endless and I'm going to throw some out here and see what happens. I acknowledge the fact that I might be doing my own business more harm than good here; nothing puts people off attending your course more, than when you're calling them out about it.

Having never been one to mince words, when it comes to the standard of training in the Close Protection and Firearms Training Industry, I'm going to take another long, deep swig of my beer and forge ahead regardless.

I should make it clear that I, personally, have no idea why so few Close Protection and PSD Operatives are not doing Hostile Environment Training, prior to deploying; I literally don't know. All I can do is assume.

It might even be that they ARE doing HEPCO Training...just not with Go Noisy! And just to be abundantly clear, that's a reality that hasn't escaped me and if that IS the case, then I have a lot of work to do to change that.

The reasons listed below are simply my own thoughts; please feel free to disagree ok?

The "OP HERRICK" Excuse

"...yeah, I've done 6 OP HERRICKS...I don't need to be taught anything about being in a gunfight..."

I've actually had this attitude on a CP Course and it was only during the Hostile Phase of that CP Course, that the orator of those words was measured, weighed and found wanting.

If you believe that a gunfight as a soldier is the same as a gunfight as a CPO, then, respectfully, you really should not be considering a career in the Hostile CP Industry.

EVERYTHING is different...everything.

Ammunition - As a soldier you will have an abundance of ammunition; as a CPO you will not and THAT single fact alone, changes the entire dynamic of your Contact Drill. Win the Firefight? Yeah, try doing that with three magazines for your M4 and let me know how it works out for you. Your immediate action should be to drive through, reverse out or if you do have to debus from the vehicles, then it is fast, aggressive and you are "extracting". You have a Client with you and that and your lack of ammunition and firepower, changes everything. Your Contact Drill is unrecognisable to that of a HERRICK.

Fire Support - As a soldier, you have the ability to call in Fast Air, Mortars, WMIKS, Guns; as a CPO you do not. If you're lucky...and I mean very, very lucky, you may have a CAT satellitting around you in a gun truck or low-profile Toyota Hilux. Ordinarily, the ONLY Fire Support you have, is that of your Team.

Medical Support - As a soldier, every effort will be made to get you out. MERT's will generally, do everything in their power to come get you. You will have highly trained Medics on the ground with you, to keep you alive until the MERT arrives. As a CPO, that ain't happening. Your Medical Support is the guy sitting next to you, who passed his FREC 3, 2 years previously and has never used his medical skills since his course finished.

QRF - As a soldier, someone is coming to get you, when you get in the shit. As a CPO, no-one is coming to get you, apart from your 2nd Vehicle; if you even have a 2nd Vehicle, that is.

Many PSC's are working with 1-vehicle moves.

So who's coming to get you? Who?

If you're working in Kabul, then your PSC will come under the protection of the Kabul Security Force (KSF). The KSF is made up of NATO soldiers and dependent upon what NATO country is supplying the KSF, will depend on how "quick" the QRF get's to you.

Additionally, you ever tried getting anywhere quickly in Kabul?

The KSF will deploy from RSHQ, who then have to negotiate Massoud Roundabout and probably Abdul Hak Roundabout; both areas where sitting in traffic for an hour is common. Fear not though, your PSC may put together a collective of "staff" to act as your QRF, should you get in the shit.

So, your 6 OP HERRICK's will certainly be an advantage, particularly in conditioning you for when things go south...but please do not think for a moment that if you get in a gunfight, that it will even remotely resemble a HERRICK gunfight.

The "I can't be bothered" Excuse

You have no business being in the CP/PSD Industry.

The "I don't need to - it won't happen to me" Excuse

You have no business being in the Industry.

The "I don't have the time" Excuse

Yeah, I DO understand this one. It's a ball-breaker.

When I worked in Baghdad, Kabul, Kandahar, Peshawar, Albania, Tripoli and up-country Sri Lanka, we were on the ranges at least once a week. The attitude to training was different from both the teams and the employers. Range facilities were available and if they weren't...we drove into the desert/jungle and made one and this was when things were much more kinetic.

Things are different now; lack of range facilities, lack of funds for training ammunition, operational commitments and, dare I say it, a lack of appetite to train. The allure of a day off on a Friday to binge on Game of Thrones Box Sets is, I admit, a tempting alternative.

No it fucking isn't....!!!

I should say that there are a number of PSC's who DO make every effort to get on the range (not a Pipe Range) and get some drills done; Saladin are one of those that I do know put a lot of time into Firearms Training.

Here's the thing right? This is as raw and to the point as I can make it....

If you are carrying weapon systems every day for the sole purpose of protecting a Client and yourselves and you are NOT carrying out Live Firing weapon training and Contact Drills during your 8 or 9 week rotation, in-country and you are NOT carrying out Live Firing weapon training and Contact Drills during your 3 or 4 week rotation, at home...then when are you doing it?

There are people out there, perhaps reading this right now, muttering under their breath at how big a prick I am, who fall into this category...and they know they do.

There are people who have been running around Libya, Iraq, Mogadishu or Afghanistan for years and have never practiced their Contact Drills under Live Firing conditions; they have never stress tested their weapon handling skills and yet...they carry dual weapon systems on a daily basis? What other Industry would allow that to happen?

For those of you who simply don't want to leave your families again, when you're home on rotation...then I would say to you, "...bring your families out to us..." We will cater for them under our Busman's Holiday Approach to Training. Our courses are between 4 - 7 days long and the places we run them are ideally suited to a short break.

Foreign Weapon Systems

When you deploy on contract, you are not going to be given an SA80. You're going to be handed an M4, AK, HK or Sig Rifle and expected to know how to work it. You will be given a Pistol (usually a Glock) and expected to know how to handle it.

Us Veterans are a proud bunch; we don't like to admit that we don't know something, especially a weapon system. So, we take that Sig Rifle or that M4 and we take that Glock and we pretend that we know what we're doing, hoping to all the Gods, that we never have to actually use it. Yeah, we can do dry training and tell ourselves that, that's enough but deep down we all know it's not.

*sighs heavily*

When did we stop taking pride in what we do? When did being a Hostile CPO or PSD Operator become a career held in such low esteem by the very people in it?

Let's not forget that HEPCO training is not ALL about Firearms. It's also about Scenario Training; but scenarios based on actual incidents/case studies. Soft Skills are as important in the Hostile CP world as they are in the Executive CP world; Facebook photos of individuals festooned in bandoliers of ammunition with Punisher Skull badges on their bodyarmour are generally posted by individuals who have never been outside the Wire or who have never been in a gunfight.

All the gunfights I have ever been in (as an undercover soldier and PSD Operator), have ALL been in urban settings. Being in a gunfight at 300m and 10m are two different beasts your training has got to reflect that.

In my own experience, the Hostile CP/PSD community is made up of two different types of people. The first are people who love soldiering, they love what they do, they love the danger and they have pride in what they do because they are good at it. These people are usually quiet, unassuming people and have a healthy respect for the preservation of life and their ability to preserve or take one, with an equal lack of emotion or bravado, in order to keep themselves, their mates and their Clients safe, is part of the hazards of their job. I know lots of guys like this.

The others are those that never quite set the world on fire in the Military and are desperately seeking a "do over" and they join the industry with an approach that will NEVER work. They come into the industry with a massive chip on their shoulder that they hope the industry will knock off for them. Unfortunately, I also know lots of guys like this to.

Listen, I'm no expert...I'm no SME in Hostile CP/PSD work...but I've been fortunate to have been able walk away from every scrap I've ever been in and THAT is what shapes and defines our HEPCO courses...it really is that simple for us.

Before I leave you to enjoy your weekend, I do want to talk about how you choose your HEPCO/Firearms training provider.

Like all courses - do your research.

• Does the course provide you with the training that you need?
• Do the Instructors have the necessary background/experience (good and bad) to teach what they're teaching? If they don't, then they have no business teaching it.
• Ask questions. Phone them. Email them. Quiz them. Their reaction to that will tell you everything you need to know.
• Is it a Live Firing HEPCO? If it's not...don't waste your money.
• Do they have the required Insurances in place? Ask to see it.
• Avoid Stag Party/Team Building Firearms Courses like the plague.
• The reputation of the Firearms/HEPCO training provider. Are they known within the Industry. Do the PSC's know them? If not? Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!
• How is the Instruction delivered? No one wants a micro-manager on the range. Range time is supposed to both rock your socks off and make you smile.
• Are they going to make you "better"; a better shot, better at working your weapon systems, better at understanding your weapon system and what it can and can't do for you?
• Do they run "soft-skill" Scenario Based training? If not? Don't do it.
• Is it an AIRSOFT HEPCO? If it is...well...that's up to you...but let me say this; there are things that ONLY a Live Firing HEPCO can identify...and I'm sure I don't have to explain that further.

Am I deliberately promoting Go Noisy HEPCO and Firearms Courses? Fuck yeah! But I'm doing it because the alternatives are not going to give you what you need.

Listen, we're a "no bullshit" Firearms training provider, we have facilities in Bulgaria and Poland, where we can run Stage 4-5 equivalent, range practices that replicate the Hostile CPO/PSD Industry.

We only use Instructors that know what their doing, in terms of planning and conducting a complex, multiple firer, Live Firing Range practice. We push it to the limits of Safety and yet it is ALWAYS safe (even though you might not think so at the time), because that is the only way to conduct realistic Firearms training.

In terms of Stage 4-5 Live Firing Exercises, I was taught by the best. I then went on to run Stage 4-5 Live Firing Exercises at ITC Wales (Brecon) for 2 years and then at British Intelligence for 6 years...we know what we're doing at Go Noisy and if you want realistic, functional and "what the fuck" HEPCO/Firearms training, then just give us a shout and we'll make it happen.

All HEPCO and Firearms Courses dates are on the website.

We're here, exclusively, for you guys/girls; that's why we exist.

Collectively, let's dispel the myth that Hostile CPO's and PSD Contractors are a bunch of knuckle-dragging, uneducated ex-soldiers. The skills and experience that we all have are fucking gold dust...be proud of them.

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it and we (Go Noisy) are here to make sure that doesn't happen.

I would also encourage/appeal to all CP Training Providers and PSC's to "get on board"...we will put your guys through a Live Firing HEPCO that is reflective of the realities of Hostile CP/PSD work; anything else is just taking money off guys for no reason than to take money off them....you know it, we know it and they know it.

We/you are Veterans...no one likes us...and that's exactly how it should be.

www.gonoisy.com

No Gimmicks - Just Training

'...it's all that matters..."