Police Close Protection v Military Close Protection

[co19]

The guys from SO19/CO19 were probably Vince, Gary or Scott who ran the CP/RP Courses at the time.

[Block 30 Janitor]

Bo##ocks posted that twice!!!

[Hippo]

One of the reasons for Rmp getting the British Military CP role is the ability to communicate and interact with others of all ranks whether civilian or military. Also as the majority of CP teams many years ago were from policing backgrounds it assisted with liasion and all teams having something in common. And RMP must be doing something right as they still have that role today.

[Hippo]

CO 19

Vince and Gary yeaph I think they enjoyed their 3 or 4 day visit plenty of miliatry tourism as we drove a few routes, I mean went out on fact finding missions and recce's. they also accompanied us on task with the boss.

Hippo

[fbg]

CO19 on that note and that money you owe me lunch lol

fbg

[van]

Horses for courses.

What I will say is - and this only from my experience with the 2 ex Met I've had the pleasure of. What the ex-mil takes as the norm.... ie being 'shot at' (Hostile Environments) the Police guys treat as an 'event' - and seemed to 'affect' them. Different people, trained and operating in a very different environment with a different threat....

Can you really compare the two?

[co19]

fbg, anytime corr!!!!

[eddyedwards41]

Some years ago after having sat in an OP witch was a ditch for over 24hrs we extracted on to a near by lane to make our way to a pup. At the end of the lane was a car which we had observed for some 8 hrs in the said vehicle was 3 royal protection bods. After only conversing with them for about 5mins that they were very up tight individuals and I believe they thought tat they sat on some higher level of existence than me and my 3 compadraes.

On the other hand when I was out in the Lebanon the Rmp CP team covering the consulate were very laid back lads considering the tempo they had to work in. when ever they went out of the city we worked with them to inherence their protection capability.
And I must say they were very professional. But we did have a good crack with them.

[frankfarmer]

Saps-za, I challenge your statement (listed some time ago!) about military guys not being able to converse with the principle; I have recently retired from the military and spent the best part of 18-years working within the Close Protection fraternity. I was always able to ‘speak’ to my principle - so much so, that I frequently meet up with them for lunch, dinner or just afternoon tea. We continue to speak on a regular basis.

The issue here mate is that we can’t ‘tar’ everyone with the same brush and I have met many within the military who do struggle to converse on the same level as the principle, however my old mob used the maxim of not speaking unless spoken too. Alto often an inexperienced IBG would try to initiate conversation because they lived in fear of silence.

My second comment is for Hippo (a close friend). I was in conversation the other night with a chap in the know about a 3 star challenging the reasons why the redcaps provided CP within a war fighting environment. The argument is that Rmp do not have the necessary tactical awareness to survive during high intensity warfare. This is something that DMO will need to adjudicate and issue the necessary direction. Service Police CP to battle-field military commanders might be on borrowed time; Service Police CP to the FCO shouldn’t be effected (we hope).

General comment: The regular reference to Iraq/Afghanistan within this thread leads me to think that we might be talking about two different types of protection. Remember, the CPO should be considered as the last line of defence. The reasons that many of the PPOs from SO1 do not deploy to war zones (above the concerns of their families) is because they [routinely] do not have the necessary skills to contribute to the defence of their principle. Again, some do, however those that choose not to deploy may be displaying the ultimate signs of professionalism. Know your limits, understand your capabilities and seek support when you identify a gap in your ability to secure the person at risk.

Food for thought; I’m climbing off my soap box now.

I laughed when I read the username, ‘Block 30 Janitor’. Well done - extremely original and something that will resonate with all Longmoor Veterans…

[co19]

The first question the SO.1 guys ask is who else is going, if the other people are knobs then they say no, also there is a debate in the dept about pay in the future which means it will loose the guys money, if thats the case you won't be getting many of them doing it. Watch this space. Also famillies come into the equasion, police wives are not as used to this type of thing compared with military wives.