S epLember 11, 2001 elicits a strong emotional response among Americans. For some it is the loss of a single life, for others it's the sheer ma?nILude. The sense of safety and security was wiped away and replaced by something else.
S epLember 11, 2001 elicits a strong emotional response among Americans. For some it is the loss of a single life, for others it's the sheer ma?nILude. The sense of safety and security was wiped away and replaced by something else.
S epLember 11, 2001 elicits a strong emotional response among Americans. For some it is the loss of a single life, for others it's the sheer ma?nILude. The sense of safety and security was wiped away and replaced by something else.
that elicits a strong emotional response among Americans, from those who lost family and friends, the brethren of law enIorcemenL and BrsL responders Lo LLose crazy government conspiracy theorists. For some, it is the loss of a single life that triggers the response, for others its the loss of hundreds of courageous men and women who were simply, heroically doing their job that morning, while for others its the sheer manILude oI LLe Ioss oI more LLan 8000 people. For many its the simple fact that the attack didnt happen in some foreign land whose name most Americans couldnt speII and Iewer sLIII couId Bnd on a map. IL happened right here in our country, our own backyard if you will. In just a few hours on a clear fall morning the feeling that regardless of what was happening in some far off corner of the world, we were untouchable here at home was reduced to rubble along with the Tower 1 and 2 oI LLe WorId Trade CenLer. The sense of safety and security that an entire generation had grown accustomed to - maybe even felt entitled to - was wiped away and replaced by something else. To varying degrees it was replaced by fear, anger and, in some instances, a vocal demand for retribution. As a Iormer Fecon MarIne, I wIII readIIy admit that retribution was something that I Look Ior ranLed. NoL LLaL I Lad any noLIon that it would be mine to dispense. Those days had passed for me and, quite honestly, my cLosen career pIaced a sInIBcanL emphasis on avoiding the sort of risks that are commonpIace on LLe baLLIeBeId. EuL LLere was no doubt in my mind that retribution would be dispensed, or who would dispense IL. 0ur armed Iorces are LLe besL In LLe worId, and the men and women who serve in them are the most capable on the planet; period. End oI sLory. WLIIe IL's someLImes Lard to admit that combat is best left to young MarInes and LLeIr broLLers and sIsLers In LLe Army, AIr Eorce and Navy, I wIII readIIy admIL that I am ill-equipped to debate the decisions LLaL were made aL LLe LIme by FresIdenL EusL, LIs advIsers and LIs sLaII. As LLe duIy eIecLed FresIdenL oI LLe counLry, IL was LIs responsibility to make those decisions that he felt were in the best interests of the country. WLaL I wIII say In reard Lo LLe decIsIons LLe FresIdenL and LIs cabIneL made Is LLaL I wholeheartedly support those decisions and, more importantly, I am really glad they were his to make, not mine. In one of those rare instances where one of my predictions was right, it wasnt long after the September 11th attacks that the US invaded Afghanistan, followed not too long after by the invasion of Iraq. In relatively sLorL order, LLe UB was BLLIn Lwo wars In two different countries, a scenario around which our entire military strategy was based. As often happens in the real world, the two wars doctrine barely survived BrsL conLacL wILL LLe enemy, and IL quIckIy became apparent that we simply werent prepared Ior LLe compIexILIes oI BLLIn Lwo sImuILaneous 'asymmeLrIcaI' wars conBIcLs where a smaller, less organized, less well- equipped adversary has an advantage over a Iarer, more unwIeIdy Iorce. WLIIe I can'L say I was surprised by this turn of events, I found it maddeningly frustrating for two reasons; BrsL, I Lad rown up In a mIIILary unIL wLere the typical operating assumption was that the adversary, even those who were ill-equipped, ill-trained and poorly led, would have a huge tactical advantage - wed be operating against them on their turf. Secondly, in my civilian career as a protection specialist, more commonly referred to as a bodyguard; I had recognized, through both training and experience, that regardless of the resources you have at your disposal, the bad guy has a distinct advantage. Someone far smarter than me once wrote; we hold these truths to be self-evident, and in my little slice of the world the truths that are self-evident tend to be both simple and straightforward. Right at the top of that list is the fact that, regardless of how much money, how many guns and how many lawyers you have, a small handful of bad guys armed with superior knowledge of the terrain, enough time to plan and a little ingenuity will, given the opportunity, kick your ass around the block everyday of the week and twice on Sundays. And theyre more LLan Lappy Lo do so wILLouL LLe beneBL of shiny new, high-tech weaponry, slick tactical clothing and cool sunglasses. From the outside looking in, there was little doubt the US military was learning this lesson the hard way and, like most lessons in life learned the hard way; it was painful, embarrassing and costly. EuL Iearn LLey dId. IL dIdn'L Lake Ion Ior some of the more forward thinking military leaders to understand the challenges they faced and come up with some viable solutions. They recognized that the decades of recruiting and investing in smarter, more capable troops could and would only pay dividends if these troops could be brought to bear on the enemy. This meant freeing up more troops from all the mundane, behind-the-scenes tasks that drive the military war machine and rethinking how units could best utilize their most precious resource - their people. WLIIe I am noL sure wLaL LLe raLIo Is LLese days, back in the day when I served it was eneraIIy accepLed LLaL Ior every MarIne, soldier, airman and sailor serving in a combat role there were seventeen more serving in a support role, so rethinking and reshaping how we go to war was by no means a small underLakIn. Here aaIn, I am parLIcuIarIy Iad LLaL LLIs was noL my baLLIe Lo BLL. It wasnt long before the military began to adapt to the reality of their missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. In turn, it wasnt long before they recognized there was an urgent need Lo BII aII oI LLose vacanL posILIons as troops were freed up for more critical missions. They also recognized that the traditional fall- back plan, which relied on the use of Reserve and NaLIonaI 0uard Lroops Lo sLep In and BII LLose voIds wasn'L oIn Lo work, sImpIy because enLIre Feserve and 0uard unILs were already being prepped for deployment and they would need all of their personnel to perform their missions. It was also obvious that recruiting and training more people - a costly, time consuming endeavour in the besL oI LImes jusL wasn'L oIn Lo work. EuL somewhere, someone recognized that there were, in fact, a substantial number of people in the private sector that had the skill sets needed Lo BII LLose posILIons. In IacL, many oI these folks had developed those skills while serving in the military before heading for the reener pasLures oI LLe cIvIIIan worId. WLen all was said and done, the folks that matter recognized it would be more cost effective to contract the resources they needed as opposed to taking the traditional route of recruiting and training organic resources. Bo, Ior LLe BrsL LIme ever, LLIs counLry saw the wide scale appearance of civilian contractors working, quite literally, alongside the military in a war zone; performing jobs traditionally performed by military personnel. These contractors included cooks, truck drivers, administrative assistants, advisers and, of course, security specialists. Regardless of their job, and not unlike the IoIks LLaL Tom Erokaw wroLe abouL In LIs besLseIIIn book: TLe 0reaLesL 0eneraLIon, every single one of these people was willing Lo sLep up, make Lremendous sacrIBces and assume tremendous risks despite having no reLIremenL beneBLs, IImILed LeaILL coverae, absolutely no guarantees of continued employment, no unions to negotiate on their behalf for better working conditions, or most of the other things the typical American takes for granted. And in doing so, these civilians enabled the military to function more eIBcIenLIy and eIIecLIveIy. TLousands were seriously injured or killed, yet when all was said and done there were no celebrations, no parades wLen LLey came Lome. HeII, LLey were lucky to get a paragraph or two in the IocaI newspaper. More oILen, LLey were criticized or demonized by people who knew nothing about what they had done and the sacrIBces LLey made. YeL, In my mInd, LLe overwhelming majority of these people are heroes in the same sense that the people descrIbed In Erokaw's book are. No one Iorced them to go somewhere or do something they did not want to; they went because they felt a duty to this country. They knew the risks and despite them - not because of them - they chose to put themselves in harms way because they believed that they could contribute something to the effort. Dont get me wrong, patriotism certainly wasnt the only factor that played into the decision many of these folks made. The pay was good and the promise of adventure was sLron. Now, I reconIze LLaL Lo LLe averae person this line of thinking is, at best, IoreIn and, more IIkeIy, bIzarre. FerLaps thats because average people - those who make up more than ninety percent of the population - go through life attempting to avoid confrontation at just about every opportunity, and at almost any cost. There is a certain segment of the population that counts on this. They are the criminals and evil doers, and they are quick to prey on those who are willing to give things up in order Lo avoId a conIronLaLIon. Now, wLIIe I cant speak for the cooks, administrative assistants or truck drivers, I can tell you that the security contractors tend to fall into a third category, one made up of the one percent of the population that are willing to stand up to criminals and others who might prey on whomever they can. In a different place and time they were cops, soldiers and protection specialists or in lay-persons terms; bodyguards. They were motivated by all of those things already mentioned - patriotism, adventure, a decent paycheck - but most of all they were motivated by the understanding that there are people in the world that need protection and those that have the capability to provide that protection. These are men and women that knowingly put themselves in harms way. And while I am not sure how a psychiatrist or psychologist might view their chosen profession, I do know that for thousands of years those whose chosen career was to protect others, to serve as bodyguards, were viewed honourably and treated with respect. It wasnt until these professional protectors answered the call to ply their trade in a war zone that they became looked down upon, called mercenaries and thugs. I am not sure how the hell that happened, but I can tell you that it couldnt be further from the truth. I say this because I have been a protection specialist for more than twenty years and have worked as a security contractor. I have more than a few reasons for writing this book, some of which are easy to articulate, oLLers noL so mucL. 0ne reason Is LLe desIre to provide a realistic portrayal of the work that security contractors did, day in and day ouL, In Iraq. NoL some sensaLIonaIIzed sLory, but the unvarnished truth, warts and all. Another reason is a desire to provide some InsILL InLo LLe courae and sacrIBce LLaL many of those contractors made in order Lo accompIIsL an exLraordInarIIy dIIBcuIL, very noble mission; keeping others alive in a country torn apart by war, decades of strife wrought by an evil dictator, and a eneraI dIsLrusL oI WesLern overnmenLs. EuL mosLIy, I am wrILIn LLIs book Lo dIspeI the myths and misconceptions about who these contractors were, for unlike the rest of LLe worId I know LLem BrsLLand, and I know them to be hardworking men trying to earn an honest living in the face of tremendous rIsk, conIusIn and conBIcLIn dIrecLIves and competing political agendas. Right upfront I will tell you that the company I worked Ior was EIackwaLer, a company wLIcL was ultimately brought down by the tragic evenLs LLaL occurred on 16LL BepLember, 2007 In NIsoor Bquare, unLII LLaL day one of those places that no American outside of Iraq even knew existed. Just to be clear on LLIs, I was noL In NIsoor Bquare LLaL day, nor did I know any of the contractors involved in what would become one of the most highly publicized, controversial events involving security contractors in Iraq. For those who may not be familiar with the incident; on LLaL day a EIackwaLer convoy was movIn through the Square when it reported taking Bre and, In Lurn, Bred back. Ey LLe LIme LLe media coverage died down the contractors, and the company itself, stood accused of killing seventeen innocent Iraqi men, women and cLIIdren, EIackwaLer's repuLaLIon was In tatters and criminal charges were brought against some of members of the team involved. At the time I write this, the one man who pled guilty to charges of manslaughter and agreed to testify against other members of the team is in prison, the charges against LLe oLLers Lave been dropped, EIackwaLer no longer exists and security contractors are painted with a broad brush of contempt, even by some in the protection profession. As for me, I am proud of the time I spent workIn Ior EIackwaLer, a company LLaL was far different at the beginning then it was in 2007. I was LLere wLen boLL LLe company's foray into the realm of protective services and the idea of using security contractors Lo proLecL AmerIcan oIBcIaIs were In LLeIr infancy. I also believe that, regardless of what Lappened Lo LIs company, ErIk FrInce sLouId be applauded for his willingness to step up and take a monumental risk in support of US military and diplomatic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the time he accepted LLe BrsLoIILskInd conLracL Lo proLecL LLe LILesL rankIn UB oIBcIaI In a war zone, the risks were crystal clear and the stakes couIdn'L be LILer, succeed In keepIn FauI Eremer, UB AdmInIsLraLor oI Iraq LLe man the Secret Service declared, in writing, to be LLe mosL LLreaLened AmerIcan oIBcIaI In LLe world, bar none - alive and your company will have accomplished something that no private company Lad ever acLIeved beIore. However, II Eremer eLs kIIIed your company wIII serve as a poster child for those who believe that a private company cannot possibly provide the level of protection required to safeguard overnmenL oIBcIaIs. And, oL, by LLe way, your company will, in all likelihood, never receive another government contract. Keep In mInd LLaL Mr. FrInce was In no way, sLape or form responsible for the failure of the two war strategy that led directly to the demand for security contractors, nor did he set out to create the conglomerate that EIackwaLer uILImaLeIy became. WLaL Le dId do was recognize a need, develop a service modeI LLaL wouId BII LLaL need and LLen Ey Erank 0aIIaLer TLe MIssIon: FroLecLIn LLe MosL TLreaLened Man In LLe WorId ********************************************************************************************************* ********************************************************************************************************* BprIn 2018 \W]OP\ITSUIOIbQVM 31 30 \W]OP\ITSUIOIbQVM BprIn 2018 Frank Gallagher: TLe MIssIon Frank Gallagher: TLe MIssIon 0rIIn: TLe LoIds Lere are wresLIIn LoIds and thats where the phrase originates. WresLIIn Las Ion been an 0IympIc sporL, administrated by FILA, the sports governing body. There are sets of rules for each of the varIous sLyIes oI wresLIIn. FrIor Lo LLe formation of rules, wrestling was a free-form affair. There was no need to mention any such phrase as no holds barred, as that was taken for granted. It wasnt until after the sport became regulated that bouts where those rules didnt apply were billed as such. The earliest reference to the phrase no holds barred' probabIy comes Irom ManILoba DaIIy Eree Fress, Eebruary 1892: "Wm. 0Ibbs, LLe Kansas man, and DennIs 0aIIacLer, oI EuIIaIo, engaged in a wrestling match at the opera Louse Lere LonILL. 0Ibbs was sLranIed InLo insensibility and may die. The conditions of LLe maLcL were besL Lwo In LLree IaIIs 0reco Roman style; no holds barred. Forms of contemporary no holds barred wrestling in which rules are thrown out the window are Hardcore WresLIIn and Cae EILLIn. HuIk Hoan sLarred In a 1989 BIm 'No HoIds Earred' based on IreeIorm wresLIIn. ILs LaIIne was, "No FIn. No FeI. No FuIes." 0rIIn: TLe word Iuck dId noL orIInaLe as an acronym as was originally though, but it crept, fully formed, into the English language Irom DuLcL or Low 0erman around LLe 1SLL century (its impossible to say precisely when because so little documentary evidence exists, probably due to the fact that the word was so taboo throughout its early history that people were afraid to write it down). The AmerIcan HerILae DIcLIonary says ILs BrsL known occurrence in English literature was in the satirical poem Flen, Flyss (c.1500), where it was not only disguised as a Latin word but encrypted - gxddbov - which has been deciphered as fuccant, pseudo-Latin for they fuck. According to Sheidlower, [Editors note: Jesse Sheidlower was the Editor at Large of LLe 0xIord EnIIsL DIcLIonary, specIaIIzIn in English linguistics and lexicography and auLLor oI TLe EWord, a deLaIIed LIsLory oI the word fuck ...bless!] the earliest published claims of a supposed acronymic origin for LLe Eword appeared durIn LLe 1960s. Eor example, an underground newspaper called LLe EasL VIIIae 0LLer prInLed LLIs versIon In 1967: IL's noL commonIy known LLaL LLe word fuck originated as a medical diagnostic notation on the documents of soldiers in LLe ErILIsL ImperIaI Army. WLen a soIdIer reporLed sIck and was Iound Lo Lave V.D., LLe abbrevIaLIon E.U.C.K. was sLamped on LIs documents. It was short for Found Under CarnaI KnowIede." Two more variants appeared in a letter pubIIsLed In FIayboy maazIne In 1970: "My friend claims that the word fuck originated In LLe 1SLL CenLury, wLen a marrIed couple needed permission from the king to procreaLe. Hence, EornIcaLIon Under ConsenL of the King. I maintain that its an acronym of a law term used in the 1500s that referred to rape as Eorced UnnaLuraI CarnaI KnowIede." Undoubtedly the most famous instance of this etymological travesty was its use as the title oI LLe 1991 Van HaIen aIbum, "Eor UnIawIuI CarnaI KnowIede." NO HOLDS BARRED FUCK 5MIVQVO" Without restrictions or rules. 5MIVQVO" ...Errr, well, you know...! 1VM^MZaQ[[]M_M_QTTJZQMaTWWSI\[WUM QV\MZM[\QVO_WZL[IVLXPZI[M[IVLVL out where they came from. In this issue: N0 H0LDB EAFFED and EUCK! Tough Words & Phrases BprIn 2018 \W]OP\ITSUIOIbQVM 33 Tough Words & Phrases demonstrate that his company could deliver that service where, when and as needed. In doing so his company - and those that followed provIded LLe mIIILary wILL LLe BexIbIIILy needed Lo successIuIIy BLL an asymmeLrIc war In Lwo LLeaLres sImuILaneousIy. None of this would have happened if he wasnt interested in supporting the war effort or if he was afraid to place himself and his company aL rIsk. EuL Le was, and Le dId. Bo Ior LLaL Le should be applauded. UILImaLeIy, LLe Eremer DeLaII was a success. EIackwaLer conLracLors kepL Mr. Eremer saIe and secure for the entirety of his year in Iraq. The detail became the standard by which aII oLLer FroLecLIve BecurILy DeLaIIs were compared and the successful execution of the Eremer DeLaII earned EIackwaLer a repuLaLIon as an exceptional service provider with the ability to get the job done, even under the most dIIBcuIL cIrcumsLances. WLaL some readers may Bnd asLonIsLIn Is LLe fact that, until that time, there was no doctrine for this type of protection operation, there were no tactics, techniques or procedures - commonIy reIerred Lo In LLe IndusLry as TTF's - to study and rehearse; they were developed over LLe course oI LLe conLracL. WLaL oLLers may Bnd even more asLoundIn Is LLe IacL LLaL EIackwaLer conLracLors manaed Lo keep LLe LILesL proBIe AmerIcan LareL In Iraq aIIve Ior nearIy a year wILLouL ever BrIn a sInIe shot! ********************************* Erank 0. 0aIIaLer Las over LwenLy Bve years of international experience providing personal protection, intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism operations, surveillance detection, threat analysis, and security training in both the private security sector and LLe UnILed BLaLes MIIILary. He Las recenLIy Iounded 0aIIaLer BecurILy AdvIsors, LLC Lo provide those services to an impressive list oI VIF cIIenLs. BInce 2006, Mr. 0aIIaLer Las worked for the US Department of States Anti- TerrorIsm AssIsLance (ATA) Froram wLere Le LraIned IoreIn proLecLIon aenLs In VIF proLecLIon and VIFFTBT (TacLIcaI BupporL Team) courses. He LeIped Lo rewrILe LLe FNL (FroLecLIn NaLIonaI Leaders) course and is recognized as a subject matter expert by LLe UB DeparLmenL oI BLaLe. FrIor Lo LLe ATA Froram Le served EIackwaLer BecurILy as LLeIr Lead InsLrucLor Ior LLe FroLecLIve BervIce DeLaIIs (FBD) porLIon oI LLe BLaLe DeparLmenL's WorIdwIde FersonaI FroLecLIve BervIces (WFFB) 'HIL TLreaL FroLecLIon Training program. Taken from a book Frank is currently writing about his time in Iraq. You can contact Frank dIrecLIy vIa emaII: I0821maII.com You've LraIned and sacrIBced In LLe ym and aL varIous academIes. Youve given your blood, sweat and maybe even a few tears. Youve had training details and stood post in an empty hotel at the oddest hours of LLe nILL. EuL, do you Lave LLaL reaIworId experIence LLaL can be appIIed when things go real bad? Everyone likes to think that they will step up to the challenge and achieve their objective in a violent encounter but the sad fact is that its not always the case. Its a whole new level when reaI buIIeLs sLarL ByIn aL you. WLen you are In a vIoIenL encounLer wILL a criminal who has no rules in their tactics. If you are not ready in mind and body, LLe sad LruLL Is you are oIn Lo eL LurL... or worse. 0ur eos try to make us believe that we are all unstoppable, but the truth is that no matter how good we are, its a very real possibility that you can get hurt or worse anytime you are on duty. So how is it possible to prepare for something that is eventually going to be an unavoidable reality? Yes...Know LLe LLreaL! WLaLever job you are workIn, LLere Is oIn Lo be a bad eIemenL oI LumanILy InvoIved. II IL's an EF deLaII, wLaL poLenLIaI an aIBIIaLIons does your prIncIpaI and or LIs LandIers Lave? Are LLey prevaIenL In LLe cILy you are workIn? WLaL Is LLe oranIzaLIon's LabILs wLen LLey Lake care oI busIness? Fun ood InLeIIIence. NoL jusL your route cards and building advances, but truly know what you could be coming up against. NILLcIub and evenL assInmenLs creaLe some very poLenLIaIIy cLaIIenIn sILuaLIons. CuILuraI aLLerIns, Ior exampIe. EInd ouL wLo will be attending and from what regions. If you are not aware of who is mIxIn In your crowd, you can unknowInIy Bnd yourseII In LLe mIddIe oI a riot that stems from issues taking place on another continent. Its happened! You are in a situation where a use of force is required. Did you LraIn properIy? Eecause you wIII reacL IIke you Lave been LraIned. Are you carryIn a weapon or weapons? II you are noL absoIuLeIy proBcIenL and compeLenL wILL your LooIs, wLeLLer IL's Iess LLan IeLLaI 0C Bpray and LeIescopIc baLon or your Brearm, IL can be Laken away Irom you and so you Lad beLLer be absoIuLeIy proBcIenL wILL LLe LooIs you carry, as weII as your hand-to-hand technique. You are facing one - or worse - multiple attackers who have bad intentions, can you get rid of your inhibitions of an extended time training in the controlled environment of the martial arts gym? If you attempt to have honour in your conduct on the streets, you will be run over like a freight train! You must realize that in a violent encounter, everything in the bad guys tactics is in play; groin shots, knees, glass and champagne bottles. Anything can be used against you, can you LandIe IL? Can you LandIe beIn ouLnumbered and LavIn Lo weather the storm till help arrives? In club work especially, this is a very reaI possIbIIILy. Do you Lave LLe LraInIn? Can you keep a cooI Lead and maintain defense, despite the odds and the blows being landed? Can you... reaIIy? These are just a few of the realities we must prepare for as protection and securILy proIessIonaIs, doorsLaII and sLudenLs oI combaL. Frepare... noL only in body but in mind and acquire the survival mind set. So that no matter what the odds and the situation, we, as protectors, will dominate against not only superior physical skills but a superior mindset. A regular column by Fred Kracke, a U.B. based ExecuLIve FroLecLIon BpecIaIIsL and BecurILy ConsuILanL. He Las exLensIve experIence In LLe CeIebrILy, FoIILIcaI and CorporaLe worlds. In addition he spent over four years living in Southern Africa. 32 \W]OP\ITSUIOIbQVM BprIn 2018 Krackes Corner