Response 1 Need 250 word response and 1 reference

The route advance is a detailed assessment that extends to the routes an Executive takes to and from work, business meetings, speaking engagements, evenings out with friends and loved ones, and more. A detailed advance of the routes the principal may take is an appropriate task to ensure the executive can complete his work in a safe manner.

In this week’s readings, Oatman (2006, p. 153 and 154) identified several key details that the Executive Protection specialist needs to be cognizant of in order to properly conduct a route advance. The following analysis serves to validate those details:

• Identify as many routes as possible: This is a critical factor to exhaust during the advance. Locking your principal into a single route leaves no thoughtful option to redirect to should a threat arise. Conversely, having many options available to the Executive Protection specialist enable them to adjust to changing threat scenarios on the fly, with minimal disruption to the principal.

• Minimize checkpoints: Checkpoints inherently don’t comport with the principles of protection. Checkpoints not only can cause unwanted and unnecessary delays that may impact the principal’s business, but they also form a chokepoint where protection professionals become limited in their response to threats. Being a sitting duck is the opposite of providing adequate protection.

• Maximize safe havens: Safe havens are those locations that can provide some assistance to the protection staff and their principal. Hospitals, fire, and other emergency service locations, gas stations and more, could all serve the protection detail in a pinch and it’s essential to know where those locations are along all designated routes.

• Maintain route logs to avoid patterns: For a protection detail that provides transport protection to an executive on a routine basis, logs detailing which route was taken to a particular location is essential. In order to adequately change routes, a log serves as a historical database to ensure the protection detail isn’t becoming too predictable in the route selection. Being predictable provides adversaries an easy opportunity to plan an effective strike against a principal previously under surveillance.

• Become familiar with features along the route to identify people or things out of place: Identifying what is normal along a particular route will make it that much easier to identify those things or people out of place. This level of attention is what makes protection professionals able to identify threats and hazards before they become active and alter their route accordingly.

• Study traffic patterns: Traffic patterns routinely change for a myriad of reasons. Being able to study and archive the patterns on particular routes and under which circumstance the change is affected, will afford the protection detail the flexibility to change a selected route if need be.

• Identify special events planned in the area: Special events mean more people, more traffic, more congestion, and ultimately a more prolonged exposure to the general public and possible threats hiding in its cover. This fits all too well into Oatman’s concept in Chapter 8: Know Before You Go. Protection professionals should actively identify special events that will impact possible routes and adjust accordingly to avoid unwanted exposure.

• Beware of overpasses: Overpasses are particularly concerning as an adversary may be able to attack from above. Additionally, one should consider an overpass as a prime surveillance location.

A route advance is a critical function of the Executive Protection specialist that enables them to identify and mitigate risks. The details provided by Oatman sever that purpose well and can provide a realistic guide to effectively conduct a route advance.

Reference:

Oatman, R.L., (2006). Executive protection: New solutions for a new era. Arnold, MD: Nobel HouseHouseH

Response 2 Need 250 word response and 1 reference

Hello Class

Well this could be a research topic all unto itself. The route planning is, to me anyway, one of the most important task an executive protection agent needs to be doing. The principal is at one of the most vulnerable points of his day while traveling second only to leaving and arriving. Identifying as many routes as possible is required because if one does not do this the travel to and from one location to another will become very predictable and the advaresary will be able to make very concrete plans for attack while the principal is traveling. Minimizing choke points is important because in a choke point the principal is slowed down, maybe even stoped and more than likely pinned in. This would be a prime location for an attack. Maximizing safe heavens allows the executive protection agent to, hopefully, get the principal to a safer location should trouble approach or an incident actually occur. Obviously the best safe heaven would be a police station but than again this depends on the location, state side or overseas locations. Some overseas locations have very corrupt police departments. Maintaining a route log will assist the executive protection agent or the driver of the vehicle, this is what I am considerating on in the essay, to not become predictable and allow an adversary to develop very intricate attack plans. Staying unpredictable is one very important key in executive protection, keep the adversary guessing about what is going on and what the principal is doing or going to do. Becoming familiar with features along the routes. This is the number 1 thing I preached to my troops the whole time I was in the military; maintain a constant situational awareness, be familiar with your surroundings at all times. This is the most important thing to me in the route prereq?s. Being away of your surroundings and your everyday environment can get you and keep you out of trouble. This is essentially minute by minute, day by day intelligence gather on your part and the environment. Doing this constantly can keep everyone safe and out of trouble. Studing traffic patterns goes hand in hand with looking for choke points. There will be times of day when all the routes that have been chosen will have high levels of traffic, these can end up being choke points and therefore attack locations. Either avoid travel at those times or ensure that all the alternate routes don?t have the same high level of traffic and the same time. Known choke points can lead to known attack times. Staying aware of any special events again goes hand in hand with avoiding choke points. The problem with special events is that they can be attended by so many people that it can cause traffic to come to a complete stand still which would again be a very prime time and location for an attack on the principal. Overpasses have always scared me and every time I go under one I am non-stop scanning for someone to through an object down to the traffic. I have experienced this, not very fun but was very enlightening. If the principal is in an armored vehicle a rock more than likely would not do too much but if a bomb was dropped down that could truly be a bad day. EPS should always try and eliminate driving under as many overpasses as possible.

Oatman, R.L. (2016). Executive Protection: New Solutions for a New Era (Rev, Ed.). Arnold, Md: Noble House