Various Specialties in the Security Field

In this day and age, the need for Physical Security has never been higher, and it continues to grow. For people considering entering the various specialties in the Security field, there are several different avenues into the industry. A lot of new security professionals can get stuck or discouraged within their career path, so here are a few different ways to go:

Specialties in the Security Field you may want to consider.

Facility Guard

When someone says they work in Security, a common misconception that will pop into their heads is that of the overweight security guard standing in a mall (ala Paul Blart, mall cop). Yes, facility security is easily the most common field in security, but is often the first step in a successful career in the security industry. Most Security guards who work at facilities use it as a stepping stone to reach other jobs in the security industry, or just to supplement their income. The most basic requirements for guards in California, in most states facility guards need a guard card , and will make slightly more than minimum wage, although many facilities pay much better. Some facilities have armed positions, in which case they must maintain their exposed carry permit and will make several more dollars an hour more than their unarmed counterparts. The main function of all facility guards is prevention, standing tall, and discouraging would-be criminals from trying anything at their site. In an actual event, they are to observe and report, making sure to get the details of the encounter accurately in the report to the police. It should also be noted that several of the Directors of highly established security companies started out as a Security guard at a facility.

And where Facility Security Guards are by far the most common, there are many of different opportunities and specialties in the security industry. Here are a few of them:

Estate Security

Generally employed by companies catering to wealthy and high-profile people, the job of the Estate Security Agent is usually much better than facilities. They have great equipment, good facilities to work in, and much higher pay than a Facility guard. The basic requirements are similar also, Guard Card and Exposed Carry permits often being a necessity. But the biggest difference is the expectation of the clients. Estate Agents are held to a higher standard than Facility guards and have little to no room for error. They must always be alert and observing everything on the entire property, since clients will call with no warning asking about the location of a pet, car, child, or employee and they expect the Agent to know where everyone and everything is at all times. Good estate agents will spend years working at one account for one client, with good benefits and excellent job security. In an actual crisis event, an estate agent is expected to do everything in their power to ensure the safety of the client and their families; not just observing and reporting.

Executive Protection (Close Protection)

The second most common image that pops into people’s minds when they say security is the role of the “Bodyguard.” Used throughout the ages, and made even more famous in movies, the Close Protection Specialist is easily the most glamorous of the security field occupations.

What is Executive Protection? Executive protection (EP) is designed to safeguard high-profile individuals and their families from potential threats, which can include anything from cyberattacks to physical harm or stalking. While most people think of a bodyguard as a tall, muscular, a bit intimidating guy in a black suit, an earpiece, and sunglasses, EP duties actually go beyond basic bodyguard services. It involves anticipating risks, planning security strategies, and managing crises effectively.

It is also the highest paying, most demanding, and the hardest of the security jobs as well. To be a good Close Protection Specialist, you need to be highly trained in the field, ready for anything at any time, and always be planning for any eventuality. You should be in great physical condition, since you will be standing on your feet for hours at a time and will need to perform in an instant to any threats. You will also have to adapt your lifestyle to suit your clients, whenever they are up and moving, you are as well. Another hard part is always being “in the moment.” Ensuring that your situational awareness is always on point is mentally exhausting, and easily one of the hardest parts of the job. A Close Protection Specialist is expected to do everything in their power to protect their client, but is often limited by the situation (a celebrity might have an excited fan run up to give them a hug, and it would be VERY bad if you use a taser on them).

Most Close Protection Specialists work part-time, often for weeks or months at a time with large breaks in between, and little notice before the next job. Many are employed by security firms, but some have built up a reputation on their own and work for a few (or one) set clients. The down time allows them to work other part time security jobs.

Key aspects of executive protection:

Risk Assessment: Executive protection agents search for potential threats and vulnerabilities that might expose the client’s lifestyle, travel, and activities. 

Security Planning: They develop comprehensive security plans for various situations, including travel, events, and residential security. 

Close Protection: This is what most people associate with executive protection. It’s the aspect of executive protection that focuses on providing physical security, including bodyguard services, surveillance, and vehicle protection. 

Crisis Management: EPs always have protocols in place to respond to emergencies, such as evacuations, communication with authorities, and coordinating with law enforcement. 

Digital Security: Protecting the client’s digital assets and privacy from cyber threats and data breaches is an important aspect of EP. 

Confidentiality and Discretion: While working with high-profile individuals, an EP maintains utmost discretion and confidentiality at all times.

Who needs executive protection?

• High-level executives: CEOs, senior management, and other key personnel in organizations. 
• Celebrities and public figures: Actors, musicians, athletes, and other individuals with high public profiles. 
• Political figures: Politicians, diplomats, and other public officials. 
• Wealthy individuals: High-net-worth individuals and their families. 
• Anyone at increased risk: Individuals facing specific threats or vulnerabilities due to their occupation, wealth, or other factors. 

In essence, executive protection is a security service with many layers, with the main goal to prevent threats, ensure personal safety, and maintain operational continuity for high-profile individuals and their organizations.

Event Security

The Event Security Agent is a mix of all the above. Each event will have similarities, but will all be unique in their own way, with their own challenges and rewards. Agents will always be expected to act professionally, at the highest levels of scrutiny and in full view of the public. You must be a problem solver and ensure that small incidents do not take away from the overall event. I have worked in the security industry for many years and have risen through the ranks to supervise agents in many areas. I recently supervised an event, where more than 20 individuals tried to enter (separately over the night) who were not on the guest list and needed to be removed from the property, and a fight broke out amongst guests and they needed to be removed as well. Everything was handled quietly and efficiently, and the host afterwards heard rumors of the fight, but had no idea about the party crashers… or the incidents with the valet… or the car accident… Everything was given to him in a report afterwards (in case they needed the information afterwards for legal reasons). Event security is a great part time job, and good teams get paid very well.

School Security

Sadly, the events of the world are opening people’s eyes to the need for specialized Security agents for schools. School security agents have a tough job. They need to be highly trained, ready to react, able to view everything that’s going on, but also need to deal with children and the laws that protect them. Schools have their own set of laws that make them different from all other areas. And dealing with children is a much more difficult proposition than adults. Your demeanor, attitude, and patience will be tested constantly.

Other Specialties in the Security Field

There are still many more Specialties in the Security Field out there. Overseas contractors, Port security, and Cyber security to name a few. They all are very different but built on the same principals. They also share one very important detail: they all constantly evolve! So, be sure to stay up to date on your training and continue to learn new things!

At Pacific West Academy, our executive protection training program approaches CQB not as a set of pre-rehearsed actions, but as a cognitive skill set. It’s a thinking game, and the ultimate goal is not just to win a gunfight, but to dominate the battlespace through superior information processing. This article breaks down our unique philosophy, moving beyond the myths to show you what truly effective CQB looks like in a professional bodyguard training context.

The Foundation: Separating Marksmanship from Tactics

Before we can even discuss tactics, we must address the fundamental skill of shooting. CQB is a theory and a tactic, but shooting is simply shooting. We believe these two skills must be trained separately before they can be effectively integrated.

Why this separation? An elite competition shooter with no tactical experience can learn CQB relatively quickly because their weapon handling and accuracy are already second nature. Conversely, an operator who knows all the tactics but struggles with marksmanship will find it much harder to get up to speed, but will have better tools to handle any emergency. Our executive protection school builds its curriculum on this principle: master the firearm first, so you can dedicate your mental bandwidth to tactics when it matters most.

The Core Concept: CQB as Information Dominance

The central pillar of our CQB philosophy is this: Controlling the amount of information you gain, maintain, or lose within an enclosed space. Forget complex choreography; success in CQB is about managing what your senses are processing. “Information” is anything and everything you can perceive in the environment.

What constitutes information in a tactical environment?

• What you see: Threats, exits, light, darkness, obstacles, shell casings, blood, and shadows.
• What you feel: The temperature of a room, something underfoot like blood, or the distinct tactile feedback of your slide locking to the rear—a stimulus that tells you to reload.
• What you hear: Talking, walking, screaming, or bangs.

Your goal is to intake all this data and make an educated decision based on it. To manage this flow, we teach three primary solutions:

1. To Gain Information: You must start “pying” or methodically clearing angles.
2. To Maintain Information: If you see a certain amount of a room and don’t want to gain or lose anything, you either hold your position or move in a straight line to adjust your distance without changing your angle.
3. To Lose Information: This is a deliberate trade-off. You only give up information on one area to gain more valuable information on another. An example is clearing a center-fed room; you must lose sight of one side to fully clear the other.

The Geometry of Survival: Correcting a Fatal CQB Flaw

One of the most common and dangerous mistakes we see is using the center of a doorway as a pivot point. When an operator does this, their line of sight arcs through the room, but their body becomes exposed to un-cleared areas long before they can see them. We’ve seen this lead to operators being late to the gunfight—turning to engage a threat they’ve been exposed to for critical seconds.

This method is a no-go in our training.

The solution is to change your axis of rotation. Instead of pivoting on the threshold, you use the nearest wall of the entryway as your axis. By “pying” off this near wall, you remain concealed from every part of the room you haven’t yet cleared. You slice the room into small, manageable pieces, processing information all the way until you reach the point of entry. This isn’t some esoteric tactic; it’s the fundamental principle of shooting from a barricade.

Context is Key: Adapting CQB for Close Protection Training

Military CQB tactics are often designed for a team. The goal of “flowing” into a room is to get as many guns in the fight as possible, with each operator responsible for only a small 15% slice of the room. This method is built for speed and overwhelming force, but it comes at a cost. The first person through the door faces a notoriously high mortality rate—as high as 87%, according to instructor cadres.

In executive protection, you are often the only one. There are no six dudes behind you to take up the slack. Rushing to your death isn’t an option.

Furthermore, your objective is different. In the military, the mission was to take over the building, clearing every single room. In EP, if you have your client, your primary duty may be to barricade yourselves and wait for law enforcement. If an active shooter is present, your goal might be to simply draw their attention to yourself to keep them from shooting anyone else, a psychological tactic to protect others. The context of your close protection certification dictates a more deliberate and thoughtful approach.

Pace and Precision: The Hasty vs. Deliberate Method

Because context is everything, operators must be able to control their tempo. We teach two modes: hasty and deliberate.

• Deliberate: This is a slower, safer method that allows you to take the time to process small bits of information. The closer you get to a known threat or “indication,” the more deliberate you become.
• Hasty: A faster technique, you gain information quickly, but take on more risk. This is used when dealing with “maybes” on the way to a known threat. If you hear shooting down a long hallway, you’re not going to deliberately pie every open door along the way; you’re going to move hastily toward the indication to engage.

The Gateway to Danger: A Smarter Approach to Doors

Doors are one of the most dangerous thresholds. Our bodyguard school teaches a specific, methodical process for handling them.

1. Classification: First, understand what you’re dealing with. We simplify it to four types: push, pull, lift, and slide. For most structures, you’ll face push or pull doors. You can tell the difference by looking for the hinges; if you can’t see them, it’s a push door.
2. Easy Side vs. Hard Side: The “easy side” is the side with the doorknob; the “hard side” is the hinge side. You always want to work from the easy side if possible. Opening a door from the hard side exposes you in the fatal funnel of the doorway for a dangerously long time.
3. Let the Room Breathe: Before you commit to opening a door, check if it’s unlocked. A quiet turn of the handle tells you if the door is free-floating. After confirming it’s unlocked, back off the door. This prevents you from being right in front of it if someone decides to shoot through it. This small step avoids the loud mistake of trying to kick or ram a door that was simply locked with a deadbolt.
4. Weapon Position: When manipulating a doorknob, your weapon should be positioned to deliver effective shots to a high-thoracic region on an average-sized male. It should be in a structured, single-handed position that allows for immediate, accurate fire if necessary.

Conclusion: Earn Your Bodyguard Certification with Real-World Skills

Effective CQB isn’t about looking cool or replicating military tactics without understanding their context. It’s about managing information, controlling your exposure, and making smart decisions under pressure. It’s a skill set that must be adapted for the unique challenges of the executive protection field, where you are often a solo operator whose primary duty is defense and client safety.

Ready to move beyond the Hollywood version of close protection? Explore our executive protection training courses and earn your certification with instructors who prioritize what actually works.