Executive Protection Training – Since no federal or state agency monitors, regulates or certifies bodyguard schools, one must be careful when choosing.
Executive Protection Training – ESS Global
- Licensed by the Florida Department of Education
- Approved by the VA to accept GI Bill Benefits
- Registered Vendor for VA Vocational Rehab in Florida
If you want to become a hairstylist, there are state exams and licensing requirements. Learn first aid? The Red Cross. Want to teach firearms courses? The NRA will fix you up.
But in the Executive Protection world there is no oversight or exams or boards. Additionally, there are no certifications needed to teach executive protection.
And there are none that will be handed to you when you pass the course.
Because no federal or state or non-profit organization oversees the industry.
Now since this is a serious career choice, how does one make an informed decision?
Executive Protection Training – What to Avoid
- Predatory Marketing
- Promises of Future Work
- Fake Certifications
It’s perfectly acceptable for any school that teaches anything, to say “We are the best”. It’s as understandable as “best pizza anywhere” or “You’ve Tried The Rest, Now Try The Best” printed on nearly every pizza box.
But if you want to be a “certified executive protection specialist” you absolutely need to know that there is no such certification available – anywhere.
Not from anyone other than the HP printer at the school.
Fact: Any school can give you a certification that says you passed their course, but that certification is not recognized as a qualifier to perform Executive Protection services.
And any executive protection school that promises they can certify you as an Executive Protection Specialist without carefully explaining that their certification does not meet any legal standard is trying to take advantage of you.
It’s Predatory Marketing.
Because there is no legal requirement of certification anywhere for Executive Protection Services, there is no true need for any executive protection school to offer “certification” other than as a printed document to indicate that you passed their course.
Now that being said, there are less than a handful of executive protection training schools that are registered with their respective State Department of Education. And even fewer executive protection training schools are approved to accept GI Bill Benefits, or VA Vocational Rehabilitation.
Additionally, there are some real certifications that you may pick up as a bodyguard. Like CPR and First Aid. And ASP certifications for tactical baton and tactical flashlight for instance. Or Concealed Carry licenses.
But you absolutely need to know that any and all “Executive Protection Certifications” are a piece of paper and nothing more.
Promises of work
You should also want to be on the lookout for executive protection training schools that promise you work upon completion of their course. Simply put, the job market is tough out there and getting bodyguard work is as competitive as ever. And while attending a reputable executive protection school can open doors for you, no one can promise you work just because you completed their course.
A reputable school should tell you this up front.
Fancy course names and trademarks
Lastly, while you need to learn the basics when looking for executive protection schools, such as hand-to-hand combat, threat analysis, motorcade operations and more, beware of schools with exotic sounding coursework. Some Executive Protection Training schools even trademark courses and phrases suggesting their school is the only place you can get these trainings.
You’ll need to learn the basics without the fluff.
Executive Protection Training – What to Look For
D.O.E. Certification
Ideally, you should look for an executive protection training that has some sort of voluntary oversight. Choosing one that has gone through both the time and expense to be certified and licensed by the Department of Education is a good start.
By doing this, you are assured that both the executive protection training and the trainers themselves, have been approved by a another set of eyes. In other words, it’s real.
It’s a real “school” in the eyes of the state, that just happens to teach executive protection.
Executive Protection Training Approved by the VA to accept GI Bill Benefits.
Additionally, if you are a Veteran, you may want to use your GI Bill Benefits. Lord knows you earned them. At our last count, there are just 3 active executive protection schools that are approved by the Veterans Administration.
Even if you are not a Veteran, what this means to you is that both a state agency (D.O.E) and a federal agency (VA) has fully vetted and approved both the coursework and the trainers.
And in the world of executive protection training, that is as good as it gets.
No…wait.
It does get better.
Not only is ESS Global;
- Licensed by the Florida Department of Education
- Approved by the VA to accept GI Bill Benefits
- Registered Vendor for VA Vocational Rehab in Florida
ESS Global is the only Executive Protection Training School taking advantage of 1 of only 2 VirTRA Simulators in the country.
ESS is the only school offering active shooter training as part of our Bodyguard/Executive Protection training via the VirTra Simulator. Here in Tampa Florida we have 1 of only 2 pubic installations in the entire country. It’s a close to real as you’ll ever get.
And ESS Global is currently the only Executive Protection Training in the country utilizing this state of the art tool.
One critical component of a quality executive protection training is the ‘realism’ it provides. Real-world performance is often directly related to the realism and intensity of training.
Said another way, the more realistic the training exercise, the more skills are transferable to a real-world situation. Thus, realism is critically important to any close combat tactical trainer. And threats during training – The stress of receiving return fire, can be safely simulated with the Threat-Fire in the VirTra simulator.
Executive Protection Training at ESS Global Corp
Lastly, you’ll want to choose a school that is active in the protection industry.
ESS Global uses proven methodology, derived from protective security operations and security consulting in over 60 countries around the world. These operations have been conducted in threat environments ranging from “negligible” to “imminent”.
Summary
When looking for executive protection training, take the time to research your school and its instructors. And while we know there are very few D.O.E. licensed Executive Protection Schools in the country, we also know it is worth the expense of traveling and lodging to attend a quality school.
And being approved by the VA to accept GI Bill Benefits is of benefit to everyone.