Females in Close Protection

[mally]

Hello all

I would like to see your opinions about females working in close protection.

If your a famous female or a rich female would you prefer a female close protection officer.

Could female close protection officers ever work in places like Afghanistan or Iraq?

You always see in the papers or on the television, the bigger the bloke the better seems to be the way the rich and famous go.

[Pepe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mally Hello all I would like to see your opinions about females working in close protection. If your a famous female or a rich female would you prefer a female close protection officer. Could female close protection officers ever work in places like Afghanistan or Iraq? You always see in the papers or on the television, the bigger the bloke the better seems to be the way the rich and famous go.

I would always put a team together with the task in mind. A well balanced team that complement one another works well. Male, female, short arse, brick s**t house, or the six foot Addonis... it matters not. Skilled, professional people chosen for the right job is what counts.

As to the six foot Adonis type (no offence guys) favoured by the VIP rich and shameless... I see it as more of a statement of their wealth and position, a bit of the "look at me" syndrome.

An experienced female of my aquaintence is currently working in Afghan. Suffice to say if I had to work with her or her team tomorrow I wouldn't hesitate!

At the end of the day it all boils down to the right tool for the right job!

'Nuff said.

[Steppenwolf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mally Hello all I would like to see your opinions about females working in close protection. If your a famous female or a rich female would you prefer a female close protection officer. Could female close protection officers ever work in places like Afghanistan or Iraq? You always see in the papers or on the television, the bigger the bloke the better seems to be the way the rich and famous go.

It seems to be a must to include a female member on any CPO team. There will be areas where female CPO's are far more ideal than their male counterparts. Principals of import usually have family and these can also require a CPO and so many times it would be more appropriate for a female to fill that role - but backed up by a male partner in case he was needed by her. This is not to deter from a female CPO's capablity but to add to the deterent factor in the eyes of potential threats.

The huge 6' 6" CPO may appear to be a BIG advantage as a deterrent but the saying the bigger they are the harder they fall can be really true. Size is irrelevant - it is training and individual ability due to that training and the effort put in to practive and train correctly, this is what counts IMHO.

At the end of the day I must agree with a previous poster - the right tool for the right job.

[mjay]

i am a recently qualified female cpo and what i will say is that through out my course my female trainer was a lot more clued u than my two male trainers and they both looked to her for anwers to the questions presented to them. Based on this i have to say that females are definately required in cp roles of any stature

[Nomad]

I agree mjay and welcome aboard, it was not just the two male trainers but some of the others involved in that particular course as well. I would not say it is gender specific though, just that there are people that shine more than others but even with that every dog has its day, even the old ones

[clearwater]

As trainers, CLearwater encourage females to come and complete the Training course. We have even looked at running a course solely for women. I would say that our best ever BG on final exercise was female.
In our belief there are not enough females in the Industry.
Each year, Operationally we struggle to find sufficient female Operatives for assignements, especially in the peak of summertime.
Of course you pick your teams for each assignment with the task in mind but many of our CLients are actually requesting female operatives to be on the teams.
There is a very prominent Celebrity Client who only uses females in her team.
The 'general public' opinion of CPO's as big, brutal, martial arts experts will always be difficult to escape from but as we who do the job know, its preparation and planning that ensures a safe job, not size. A well trained Operative, female or male is essential.

[Greg21]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjay i am a recently qualified female cpo and what i will say is that through out my course my female trainer was a lot more clued u than my two male trainers and they both looked to her for anwers to the questions presented to them. Based on this i have to say that females are definately required in cp roles of any stature

That is quite understandable - I won't be wrong if suppose that two male trainers turned around your female trainer for the sake to chat her up. You know I'd like to be trained also by a tall blond baby.

[APG]

As a CP training provider, we agree with Clearwater. We actively promote females to enter the industry. We find females are able to be much more discreet and are more welcome by female VIPs and also by Families they are assigned to.

Although we discredited the idea of a female only course; feedback showed that although females would be more confortable with the idea, it would be counter productive on the whole; we're trying to bring females into this male dominated industry by assimilating them into the industry as a whole, not dividing male and female operatives creating a further barrier.

We have a number of female operatives that have impressive track records, a small number of whom have operational CP&PSD experience in Iraq showing females are clearly able in the high risk roles.

[mjay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clearwater As trainers, CLearwater encourage females to come and complete the Training course. We have even looked at running a course solely for women. I would say that our best ever BG on final exercise was female. In our belief there are not enough females in the Industry. Each year, Operationally we struggle to find sufficient female Operatives for assignements, especially in the peak of summertime. Of course you pick your teams for each assignment with the task in mind but many of our CLients are actually requesting female operatives to be on the teams. There is a very prominent Celebrity Client who only uses females in her team. The 'general public' opinion of CPO's as big, brutal, martial arts experts will always be difficult to escape from but as we who do the job know, its preparation and planning that ensures a safe job, not size. A well trained Operative, female or male is essential.

well hopefully with training companies taking a broader view and a more realistic approach the public opinions of cpo's/bodyguards will change!
i cnt tell you how many people laughed at me when i said i was going to do a training course but the sadest thing of all is that the majority of people laughing were female.

[CPO445]

Have worked with a few very clued up female CPO's - everyone has a role to play in this game