About a year ago, a specialist told me that his battalion commander in Iraq had a detail of soldiers who were his "personal security team", or bodyguards. Has anyone heard of this TTP, or was this guy pulling my leg?
About a year ago, a specialist told me that his battalion commander in Iraq had a detail of soldiers who were his "personal security team", or bodyguards. Has anyone heard of this TTP, or was this guy pulling my leg?
It depends on how you define a personal security team...Do you envision a small group of troops who are flowing in and out of diamond and box formations around the BC as he moves on foot to visit a sheik? Or are you thinking about the larger concept of a task-organized element of soldiers who provide command and control within the BC's jump CP (I think your doctrine calls in the TACC or something), as well as mounted/dismounted security, depending on the situation?
Either way, those two profiles have been done. I think I still have the slideshow I used to train a small cell of Marines to do the former for my BC the last time over.
It is a status symbol to some degree, so if the BC believes he wants to increase that status when out and about among Iraqis, the train-up needs to be done right and not out of some handbook. Grab a trained and experienced MP who's worked this stuff in the past and ask him.
Having done personal security detail for a judge in a relatively non-hostile environment I can't even imagine the task in a war zone. How many layers, how deep, counter-sniper or not, multiple mis-directions or not, force to destination or covert... gosh it must be a literal head trip trying to provide any true level of security on a single point target like a BC.
Sam Liles
Selil Blog
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To clear things up, the soldier I talked to was disgruntled that the BC got special protection. The sense I got from the conversation was the soldier felt the BC was not sharing hardship and danger with his soldiers.
The point of my post wasn't to ask for TTPs, but to solicit opinions on the necessity versus adverse effects to morale this special protection causes. Is this a "moral failure" on the part of the BC or a necessary precaution miscontrued by a junior soldier?
Sounds to me like a misguided and naive soldier concentrating on something he has no business questioning. Better to work on his MOS-related skills.
Regarding TTPs et al, the SWJ's ROE are listed here.
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