ONLINE • SELF-PACED • COMMAND LEVEL

Command the Detail. Don't Just Work It.

The planning and command course for close protection and executive protection team commanders, built on the military appreciation process and adapted for civilian protection anywhere in the world.

Enrol Now: $2,500 USD

Most Protective Failures Don't Start With an Attacker

They start with a team that didn't share the same picture. Most protection training teaches you how to work a detail. Very little teaches you how to command one: how to turn a vague tasking into a decision you can defend, a plan your team understands, orders they can repeat back, and a review that makes the next job better.

What this course is

A self-paced online course that teaches one disciplined command cycle: Appreciation → Concept of Operations → Orders → Back-brief and Rehearsal → Execute → Review. The method comes from the way professional militaries plan complex operations, adapted step by step for civilian protective work: low-profile principals, changing schedules, mixed teams, venues you don't control, and law that gives you no special powers. Written for a global audience and pitched at command level.

Two tracks, one method

Tactical Commander track: for the commander on the ground. You lead the detail, plan the day, brief the team and control the task as it changes.

Operational Commander track: for the commander above. You resource, roster and assure several details at once, and hold the whole picture from the control room.

The core lessons are shared, and many learners complete both.

Module by Module

41 lessons across a welcome, 10 teaching modules and a graded capstone, Operation HARBOUR LIGHT.

1. The Commander's Role

Tactical versus operational command, commander's intent, mission command, authority and delegation.

2. Legal, Licensing and Duty of Care

The licensing questions every commander must answer in any jurisdiction, and the limits of authority.

3. The Appreciation Process

Mission analysis, factors and deductions, and comparing courses of action to reach a defensible decision.

4. Threat and Risk Inputs

Turn assessments into planning factors, build a risk register and set reassessment triggers.

5. Concept of Operations

Write the CONOPS, contingencies, actions-on and the warning order.

6. Orders: SMEAC

The five paragraphs, scaling the order, and delivering orders by voice or to subordinate commanders.

7. Back-briefs and Rehearsals

Expose misunderstanding before the principal steps out the door.

8. Command and Control

Comms plan, sitreps, decisions under stress and a clear succession of command.

9. Incidents, Medical and Escalation

Direct incidents and medical response from the command seat, with notifications and documentation.

10. Review: The After-Action Review

Run AARs that change your procedures, and develop the next commander.

From the Special Forces

Short case studies show how elite military units solved the command problems you face, each tied to a civilian lesson and drawn from public sources. No classified material.

One-third, two-thirds rule

Why good leaders give most of the planning time to their team.

Operation Eagle Claw, 1980

What an abort minimum with no margin teaches about comparing courses of action.

McRaven's theory

Relative superiority, and how to shrink your area of vulnerability at arrivals and departures.

Son Tay raid, 1970

How a practised "what if" saved the mission when part of the force landed in the wrong place.

Operation Neptune Spear, 2011

Why commander's intent survives first contact when the plan does not.

Iranian Embassy siege, 1980

An immediate action plan first, then rehearsal on mock-ups.

Desert One

Why everyone must know who is in charge at every location.

The Holloway review

How an honest after-action review reshaped special operations.

Professional development only. Not a security licence or accredited qualification in any jurisdiction.

Is This Course for You?

Built for people who command protective details, not for people who only work them.

Who it's for

Close protection and executive protection team leaders, detail leaders and shift leaders
Experienced operators stepping up to their first command
Operations managers, program leads and duty managers
Former military and law enforcement professionals moving into private protection
Corporate security managers who task, oversee or assure protective teams

Who it's not for

Anyone looking for a security licence or a licensing pre-requisite. This course doesn't provide one in any country.
Anyone looking for hands-on operator skills such as formations, protective driving, defensive tactics or first aid.
Anyone wanting an accredited qualification. This is professional development.

What's Included

Everything you need to command your next detail.

$2,500 USD • self-paced online course • one-time enrolment

41 lessons across a welcome, 10 teaching modules and a graded capstone
About 12–18 hours of core content, plus 8–12 hours for the capstone
Narrated module introductions for every module
7 downloadable templates: Protective Appreciation Worksheet, CONOPS, SMEAC Orders, Back-brief Checklist, After-Action Review, Capstone Marking Rubric, and Commander's Quick-Reference Card and Glossary
Module knowledge checks (pass mark 80%) and two branching "choose your path" scenarios
Graded capstone, Operation HARBOUR LIGHT, marked against a published rubric with Pass, Merit and Distinction bands