SECURITY & TACTICAL ADVISOR Volume 1 November 2013 | Page 39

Exercising violence does require specific training, and execution of such tactics and techniques must fit the circumstances. You must consider your options as it happens and hopefully you will have planned and prepared in advance for the same. If you cannot think and act along these lines, then it would be best to comply with the kidnappers and hope for a negotiation or possible rescue. Remember, the idea of kidnapping is to take the person alive and they want to keep it that way at least for a while especially if you are being taken for ransom. • Become a hard target • Identify potential threats • Understand travel vulnerabilities • Avoid choke points • Analyze routes • Learn the principles of surveillance detection • Maintain situational awareness at all times • Train and Rehearse offensive and defensive tactics I will tell you that compliance and cooperation is the best chance you have for survival and release in a great number of the cases. I will also tell you that once held in internment, you should be patient as hostage negotiations are difficult and many times lengthy. I will also tell you that your survival, and in cases where execution is imminent, and your escape crucial, training is the key. The fact is, if you don’t have any you greatly reduce your chances of survivability. The best chance of escape or thwarting the kidnapping will be during those precious first few seconds of the attack when there is confusion and chaos and while you are still in a public place. During the initial attack, most victims do not realize that the kidnappers are vulnerable. They will have weapons pointed at you and expect that you will cooperate with their demands. The victim can exploit this overconfidence, if the circumstance, timing and preparation all come together. Psychologically, it is critical at that moment that you have the “violent mindset”, which drives you to do whatever it takes to survive and escape. It is essential you wholeheartedly believe that you will succeed, survive and escape. This is also why it is so important that you are prepared. Preparation is training and rehearsal. Now you must rehearse in your mind exactly what direct action you will take and what events will follow. Though this mind exercise is very rapid as the situation unfolds, it helps you gain greater confidence in your capabilities and actions that you will take. This in turn sends a signal to your brain and nervous system that you are ready to fight and thus helps you produce a successful outcome. Training and rehearsal are the quintessential element when it comes to any direct action. The Many CEOs and other clients don’t always agree with this. They often say,“Jeff, we do not have time to do the Anti-Kidnapping and Hostage Survival training because we are out everyday working towards our business goals.” . What do I retort? to them? I say, “I understand what you are trying to achieve, but you are missing the point. In every mission that I have executed, there are a number of parameters that must be met in order to ensure mission success. There are always primary and secondary objectives. There are always threats to our mission, which must be defined. I tell them there are lives at stake, yours and ours. I then explain the one thread that runs thru every aspect of every mission is training. If we do not train hard, a mission can be compromised. Lack of preparation resulting in failure is not an option in the field of security. 39