Hardly any other profession has been so much mystified as that of the "body guard" or close protection operator. Many TV shows and movies have glorified that profession and at the same time distorted the truth behind this kind of job to such an extend that too many people with a totally wrong kind of idea try to become a "body guard" or even think they ARE one while their not.

The sad truth is also that too many private "close protection instructors" contribute to that wrong image in that they offer training courses over just a few weeks or maybe 2, 3 months and these courses include mainly shooting, self-defense and only VERY little of the really mostly important skills and tactics. They let their students believe that a few weeks of such training could actually turn someone into a professional close protection expert. That idea is totally wrong. Close protection (CP) means a LOT of waiting for your client, taking him from A to B and back, again a lot of waiting… CP work is NOT an adventure. You need a lot of patience and a profound, comprehensive training.

While of course a close protection professional needs to train weapons skills and hand-to-hand combat: that is only a tiny PART of the complete and complex CP training. The true CP expert is NOT a fighter or a shooter! And NOT every martial arts student, not even the most advanced ones, are automatically sufficiently skilled CP experts....! The main job of a CP professional is to AVOID fights and confrontations and to PROTECT the client. Engaging in fist fights will actually put the client in danger and leave him without protection. A private CP expert is also NOT a police officer. He will not have the resources at hand the Secret Service would. The private CP professional might have to work alone, and he has no rights other than those of any private citizen. Hurting or even shooting someone can mean BIG problems for both the CP operator and his client in case you shoot an innocent by-stander or if this happens in the wrong country...

Just about ALL official, professional law enforcement agencies providing CP services, such as the US Secret Service, only accept applicants into their CP training who have been fully trained as investigators first and have a few years of service as such under their belt. Only THEN can they even apply for the CP training. It would be foolish to think that the Secret Service, the FBI, Israeli, French or German law enforcement are doing this knowing this wouldn't be the right way. Why waste the time and money? So apparently there must be good reasons for choosing this system and NOT use short training course to train government bodyguards.

It can be thus concluded that these experts handling official training that way do have a certain purpose and reason. The logic behind it is this: in order to become a CP expert you need MANY more skills besides weapons and self-defense training! And it takes actually YEARS to acquire the complete skill set. For instance: there are many good reasons (including legal ones) which may make it necessary to guard a person without carrying a gun. You’ll still need to be able to protect the client. Again: the CP expert is NOT a fighter - he/she is a "problem avoider", planner, and thinker. Also, you'll need A LOT of experience to professionally guard a person. It is absolutely impossible to acquire the full skill set and knowledge within a few months. There is NO profession that can be learned within such a short time.

Our PPO course - Professional Protection Officer - has thus been designed to include EVERYTHING a modern, professional CP expert needs to know - the complete skill set that a Us Secret Service Protective Detail needs to learn. This very comprehensive course may very well be unique on the private market. It includes not only the complete practical, tactical training but also the full knowledge and training of the most advanced government professionals in this business. This course is NOT another run-of-the-mill "body guard" course. It also includes an internship of a minimum of 6 months (with a chance to start earning money part-time, and a lot of additional training); prior to the internship you'll do 6 months of studies plus a very intense 4-week in-camp training course where students learn the most advanced tactical skills needed by a CP expert.

Our course is the most comprehensive course in the CP field, thus it takes more time and effort to complete and it is also more expensive than the run-of-the-mill course that include just 2, 3 months of training at the most. But you need to decide if you are looking for just an "adventurous training" or a true career with a COMPLETE training. Our course includes training with automatic weapons, machine guns, shotguns. But it is NOT restricted on weapons training but is the most comprehensive and possibly the only available FULL training course for close protection on the private market, since we include not only training but hands-on vocational experience over 6 months (on-the-job-training) PLUS we guarantee you employment upon completion of the course.

Thus, after one year of extremely intense studies and training you will take the PPO final exam. You will receive one full year of high-end CP training as BSA PPO student, but that is STILL not all:

Upon graduation you will receive a 1-year provisional employment contract (this of course is optional), during this time you will receive further training (at no extra cost). This will turn you into one of the finest private CP experts worldwide. Provided you made the grade, you will then receive full employment within our security agency. We consider the full 2 years prior to the full employment as the total CP training. This course, coming with a built-in guaranteed career option, is most probably the ONLY one of this kind!

Why are we able to guarantee employment? Because we only admit a limited number of students per year to this course, which corresponds with the number of new staff we will employ over the next year or two. Thus, we can guarantee employment. This is very different from the system of other schools which admit just about anyone but won't be able to offer any jobs.

Another important factor for you to consider: if you plan on working in international CP and want to work in Africa - buzz word World Championship South Africa 2010 - you will need a license to carry a weapon there and you will need to be authorized to work in South Africa as security detail. Our BSG-South Africa branch is one of only 2 security training institutes in South Africa which are recognized and licensed by the government. When you complete our course, we are in a position to help you obtain the necessary licenses. Most other courses of other training schools will NOT give you this opportunity as they are NOT being recognized by the South African authorities. Please find out more about BSG-EUBSA South Africa at www.southafrica.eubsa.com

As PPO participant, you won't be forced to sign up for the internship or the provisional contract for 1 year. You can of course complete the PPO study course and the 4 weeks in camp only, if you so wish or you can also only just attend the 4 week camp CP training. But we will not offer you an employment in that case since during the internship/on-the-job-training phase the participants will continue learning and training and this phase is most important to complete the full training needed. You will have already acquired a much more comprehensive skill set compared to most other CP courses, but you will be still lacking vital experience on the job which is absolutely necessary before you can join any professional CP team. We thus advise you to complete both internship AND the first year to get the full training needed. Besides, you can already earn money during that on-the-job-training phase.

Course duration: 6 months study, 4 weeks tactical training in-camp, 6 months internship plus 1 year employment on provisional contract (during which you'll still receive additional training). Upon completion of this total course, you will be offered a GUARANTEED full-time employment with the Brillstein Security Group!

Requirements: min. of 21 years of age, clean bill of health, no criminal record, preferably high school diploma or equivalent.