Ohh crap factor.

[Dykhofft]

As our team was sitting at the International Airport in Munchen, Germany waiting for the principle, which we will call General Anonymous, everything is going smooth. HAV and Case Car lined up all spit and polished. Multiple routes to the final location racing through our heads. Counter Intel teams place strategically around the routes. Our detail looking sharp in our suits. Everyone has one in the chamber of our Sigs. The Shift Leader checks to see if there is one in the chamber in the H&K MP5. Now all we are waiting for is the call from the bird to tell us they are on final approach.

The PSO gets the word that the bird is on final approach about ten minutes out. We jump in our cars and get ready to roll hard onto the TARMAC. five minutes later the PSO gets another call that changes this perfect scenario in one phrase. "Fog is to thick, see you in Innsbruck, Austria". The PSO relays the message and simultaneous we all say, "FUCK, Innsbruck?" Let me give you a little background, Munchen to Innsbruck is about 115 miles away. The plane is approx. five minutes from Munchen. Last time a checked an Airplane can get somewhere a lot quicker than a Motor Vehicle. What do we do? We squeel tires, turn on the blue lights and sirens, and haul ass towards Innsbruck.

We are doing inbetween 175kph to 200kph down the autobahn rolling lights and sirens. Luckly, when Germans and Austrians see blue lights and sirens they will cause a crash to get out of your way. As we cross into Austria a thought comes to my head. "Ohh shit, we have weapons all over this motorcade and we do not have a weapons clearance for Austria". The only thing I could think of was we were going to cause an International incident and go to jail. Our PSO comes over the radio and tells us that we have a Foreign PSD escort from Innsbruck meeting us right outside the city limits of Innsbruck. We finally meet up with them and they take the lead possition. As we come to down town Innsbruck more foreign police and PSD come out of the woodworks to paddle the intersections for us. We roll into the airport gates and there we see the bird coming up the TARMAC. We made it by seconds.

There are two morals of this story:

1. Always be prepared and know what you are doing incase plans change.
2. Know alot of people because you don't know when you will need them.

[Local Talent]

1. Always be prepared and know what you are doing incase plans change.
2. Know alot of people because you don't know when you will need them.
Ha! Very true and great story!

Now what you describe is awesome (and what we all wish the job was), but expect a lot of differences in the civilian world unless you get to work for The Man again.

We touched on respect in another thread. The amount of preparation and support is unfortunately a lot more limited for us civvies; another big difference from working for heads of state or other high risk VVIPs.
I can't recall one instance of being paid for all the advance work I've done for example (all done on my own time)... :(

[Dykhofft]

but expect a lot of differences in the civilian

You keep telling me that LT. I have a feeling that EP is not going to be the line of work for me outside of the Government Sector. We will see how my transittion into the Civilian life pans out in the next couple of months.

[Local Talent]

I'd hate to sound like a "Debbie Downer", but I just want you to be prepared. I've seen a lot of ex-mil/LE guys struggle with the transition, in particular with being treated like "the help" or the reality of having no input capability whatsoever.

A lot of guys actually trip themselves up by talking to the principal right away about deficiencies in security measures, etc. Being proactive is often perceived as "rocking the boat", not as being a pro.

Now you can get lucky and find a client who'll respect you and take what you say into account, but IME (others may disagree) that's a minority. And I'm not just talking about silly Hollywood celebs.
How to get your client's ear, and work your way into meetings where you can address security concerns takes a lot of sweat and finesse. By nature, we're soldiers, not politicians, so when you figure that we have to contend with all the other entourage members, each with an agenda of their own... the odds are against us.
On short-term gigs, a lot of guys wisely just take the paycheck. Hard to swallow for some, but we have to make a living.

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors in the private sector, but I'm sure that my words will come back to you more than once.

[Lone Wolf]

The transition from Military / Government to Civilian world is very difficult.. I have made that transition and have often thought to my self what in the hell am I doing here??? The realization is that IT IS WHAT I KNOW HOW TO DO.. I dont have many other skills that can be used on the OUTS.. We do what we have to do to survive... Private Security EP PSD work on the civilian side is really different than the military for sure unless you are working overseas ie Iraq or Afganistan... I have been out a long time and am trying to go overseas with a couple of different companies now because Im tired of the stuff in the US.. If I go overseas for about two to three years I can retire when I return home and be totally done with it.. I am also starting my own agency as well and have several friends that can run it in my absence.. You have some serious choices to make and hopefully the transition wont be that hard for you.. It may be hard for me because I am VERY OLD SCHOOL for the most part...