Advanced Tactical Operations in Executive Protection – Part 2
Advanced Tactical Operations in Executive Protection – Part 2
The Aftermath — Strategy and Survival Beyond the Last Shot
Welcome to the conclusion of our in-depth series on modern executive protection tactics. In Part 1, we dissected the core mechanics of winning a gunfight. Here, we address the equally critical phases that come before and after the trigger is pulled. The curriculum at any top-tier close protection school teaches that the fight isn’t over when the shooting stops. A professional must master the strategic mission, survive the arrival of friendlies, and navigate the treacherous legal landscape that follows to be considered an expert in their field.
The Mission Mindset: Active Shooter Strategy
Your tactics are worthless without a clear strategic objective. In an active shooter or public violence scenario, the mindset developed during your executive protection training must be laser-focused on the actual mission at hand.
- The Real Goal: Save Lives, Not Collect Trophies: The primary objective is not to kill the attacker; it is to save as many people as possible. This fundamental principle should guide every action you take. An instructor in our debrief emphasized that he didn’t feel the need to aggressively push down a long hallway because his goal wasn’t just to hunt the shooter; it was to protect the innocent. This patient’s life-saving mindset prevents reckless behavior and leads to better tactical decisions.
- The Power of a Protracted Gunfight: Understanding active shooter psychology is a tactical advantage. These individuals are not seeking a fair fight; they are cowards looking for soft targets where they won’t face resistance. The moment they are met with effective, returned fire, their plan shatters. Often, they will kill themselves when confronted by a prepared opponent. Therefore, keeping an attacker engaged in a protracted gunfight is a valid and highly effective strategy. While that attacker is pinned down and focused on you, they are not killing anyone else. Time is on your side, as every second you keep them busy is another second for people to escape and for law enforcement to arrive.
- Hasty vs. Deliberate Movement: Adapting to the Threat: Your movement must be dictated by intelligence and proximity to the threat. You are not a SWAT team tasked with clearing every room; you move only in response to a threat. This is a core competency taught in any advanced close protection course.
- Hasty Movement: When you are far from the indication (e.g., you hear shooting several hallways away), you can move quickly, or “hasty,” to close the distance.
- Deliberate Movement: The moment you get close to the indication, your movement must become slow and “deliberate”. You should be working from cover, “slicing the room into parts” with your eyes, and processing information before you move. This methodical approach ensures you don’t run blindly into an ambush.
Managing the Scene and the Downed Threat
Once the immediate threat is down, your work is not over. Complacency here can be fatal, a lesson hammered home in realistic bodyguard training scenarios.
- The Danger of Closing Distance: The most dangerous mistake you can make is to rush up to a downed suspect to disarm them immediately. You do not know if they are feigning injury or unconsciousness. In one training scenario, an operative shot a suspect, closed the distance to secure the weapon, and was immediately pulled into a combative fight on the floor, losing all his tactical advantage. Maintain distance. Distance is your friend; it is the advantage your tool gives you.
- The Dilemma of the Downed Suspect: If you see the suspect is down but cannot confirm they are dead, you face a dilemma. An instructor described seeing the suspect’s legs but not their torso, and not knowing if they were still a threat. He contemplated taking a shot at the leg. The thinking was tactical: a shot to the leg of a living person will produce an involuntary reaction; a shot to the leg of a dead person will not. While he ultimately decided against it, it illustrates the high-level, real-time ethical and tactical calculations required in this profession.
- The “More Indication” Nightmare: The worst-case scenario: you have a suspect down but not confirmed dead, and a new, active threat emerges elsewhere (e.g., more shooting, children screaming from another room). This forces an impossible choice. The consensus in high-level training is that your mission is to save the most lives. This may require you to neutralize the downed—but still potential—threat in front of you so you can move to address the active, ongoing slaughter. This is a decision that would be judged under the “totality of circumstances,” but it is a grim reality of these events.
The Legal and Tactical Survival
You won the gunfight, but you can still lose. Navigating the arrival of police and the subsequent investigation is a fight of a different kind, and knowing how to handle it is a key part of earning your executive protection certificate.
- Surviving the Police Response: Responding officers are coming into a chaotic scene with a license to kill anyone they perceive as a threat. Your primary job is not to look like one.
- Listen: Pay attention to the sounds of their arrival: boots, keys jingling, radios squawking, and commands being yelled. This is your cue.
- Communicate: As they approach, get fully behind cover so you can’t be seen and shot. Holster your weapon. Then, use the trigger word “Blue, blue, blue!” to signal you are a friendly face.
- Show, Don’t Tell: Verbally announce your intentions: “Coming out, coming out!” Then, show one empty hand, palm forward, around the cover. Then the second. Only when they give the command should you step out. This deliberate, non-threatening sequence can save your life.
- Call for Help: If you have the chance, be the one to call 911. You can give a detailed description of yourself and your clothing, and even establish a challenge/password (e.g., “When your officers arrive, have them yell ‘Thunder,’ and I will respond with ‘Flash'”) to eliminate any doubt.
- Surviving the Legal Battle: After a traumatic event, you are not in the right state of mind to give a legally binding statement that will be scrutinized for years. A responsible executive protection school will always include a block on legal aftermath.
- Request Medical Attention: Do not give a detailed narrative. State that you don’t feel well and that you need to go to the hospital. Police officers involved in a shooting are often afforded a 72-hour rest period before giving a formal statement; asking for medical attention is how you, as a civilian, can get the time and space you need to decompress and think clearly.
- Call Your Lawyer: The first and most important call you should make from the hospital or a safe location is to your lawyer. They will guide you on how to provide a formal statement that protects you.
The path of the executive protection professional is one of continuous learning and brutal self-assessment. You must train relentlessly to stack every possible advantage in your favor, because as the instructor grimly noted, you are easy to kill. It is through superior tactics, strategy, and mindset learned in the best bodyguard courses that you become hard to beat.
Internal Resource: Explore our Executive Protection Training programs at PWA — https://pwa.edu/executive-protection-training
External Resource: Review FBI’s official guidelines on Active Shooter Response — https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism/active-shooter-resources