Contents: About the Author Dedication Acknowledgments Foreword Prologue Chapter 1: Soak Up Six for the Boss Chapter

2: Politics vs. Protection Chapter 3: Peril of the Profession Chapter 4: Protective Protocols Chapter 5: Deadly Predictions Chapter 6: Bodyguard of Lies Chapter 7: The Readiness is All Chapter 8: Know the Enemy Chapter 9: Anatomy of an Ambush Chapter 10:The Suddenly Scenario Epilogue Appendix A: Key Points for World-Class Protection Appendix B: Selected Bibliography Appendix C: A Compendium of Protective Wisdom Appendix D: Glossary of Terms 3 4 5 6 11 23 33 44 55 74 96 106 122 145 159 173 187 189 193 212

About The Author Thomas A. Taylor is a 27-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He spent 9 years as a road trooper, 16 years assigned to the Governor's Security Division, and 2 years as assistant director of the Division of Drug and Crime Control. He served on the protective details for four governors and served as commander of the division for 8 years. During his assignments, he has worked closely with the Secret Service agents for Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. He was twice elected as President of the National Governor's Security Association (NGSA) by the detail leaders for every governor in America. In that capacity, he served as security consultant to the National Governors' Association (NGA) in Washington, D.C., and helped prepare security plans for NGA meetings in numerous states: Missouri, New Jersey, Washington, Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Vermont, Puerto Rico, Georgia, West Virginia, New York, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. He also served on the 1999 VOPJPII Intelligence Workgroup, which gathered intelligence for the visit of Pope John Paul II to St. Louis. He has been married for 28 years to his wife, Diane, and they are both from Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Dedication On March 8, 1968, my brother lost his life in a bloody firefight in Vietnam. Bob died two days before his twenty-first birthday, trying to save other members of his squad at Dinh Tuong; not old enough to vote or consume alcohol, but old enough to die for his country. He was a corporal in the 9th Infantry Division, one of 58,184 total U.S. casualties, and he died in our bloodiest year in Southeast Asia (16,589 killed in 1968). There has hardly been a day since that I haven't thought about Bob. What occupation would he have today, if he had lived? How many children would he have? What would their lives amount to? How can we ever begin to repay these young warriors who sacrificed their lives for a noble cause? Simple ... by never forgetting their sacrifice and by thanking God that they were a part of our lives. As St. John Chrysostom (c.347-407) advised, "Him who is dead and gone, honor with remembrance, not with tears." What courage Ive carried through life is partly Bob's, and his spirit has been my shadow and advisor. From that perspective, he never really died. That's the role of heroes: to spur us on, shouting words of encouragement in our heads and inspiring us to achieve that which we didn't think we could accomplish. Failing to appreciate their sacrifice and service would be to compound the loss. Abraham Lincoln brilliantly expressed this truth in his Gettysburg Address: "The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here!" Among history's heroes stands the bodyguard, ready to defend the life of another even at the risk of losing his own. In a 1939 speech, General George Marshall (1880-1959) said of the soldier, "When the smoke cleared away it was the man with the sword, or the crossbow, or the rifle who settled the final issue on the field." This phrase depicts the position of danger and responsibility occupied by these valiant warriors, usually under chaotic conditions. Following the shooting deaths of two U.S. Capitol policemen in 1998 - Officer Jacob Chestnut and Special Agent John Gibson - Vice President Gore remarked, "As much as any soldier who ever landed on a beach, last week, the gatekeepers of our Capitol became the front-line guardians of our freedom. In defending each citizen's right to cross through that doorway in safety, they were defending democracy itself at its core." Agent Gibson had assisted me with security, during visits to Capitol Hill with the governor of Missouri several years ago. He was a thorough professional and a world-class protective specialist.

In the following pages, I will attempt to pay tribute to these and other dedicated sentinels who have risked their lives protecting another. For the most part, they quietly carry out their protective assignments every day, without incident. This book is dedicated to those brave men and women who stand between the bullet and the Boss, risking it all.

Acknowledgments Like the bodyguard shadows his protectee, enabling his safe passage through a hostile environment, behind every author stands a host of people who made his or her work possible. Many individuals have had an impact on my life, helping me to arrive where I am, and it would be impossible for me to thank them all. There have been a countless number of agents with the United States Secret Service who have assisted me over the years - in particular, George Robinson, Leo Wisniewski, Keith Edwards, Chip Smith, Lew Merletti, Bryan Vossekuil, Dr. Robert Fein, Dave Carpenter, John Magaw, Pete Dowling, Don Schneider, Keith Prewitt, and Craig Ulmer. They are world-class protectors all. I deeply appreciate the time and effort that these and other members of the Presidential Protection Division, Liaison Division, Intelligence Division, and Training Division have spent with me. I also want to thank the 600+ members of the National Governor's Security Association (NGSA), whom I served over as president for two terms. These are some of the finest officers in the nation, and their support and friendship will never be forgotten. Thanks, also, to Gavin de Becker, Bob Martin, and the folks at Gavin de Becker, Incorporated. Their support and expertise in the field of executive protection enabled the Missouri Governor's Security Division to remain on the cutting edge of the threat assessment business. They are world-class professionals. Gavin was gracious enough to review my first draft of Dodging Bullets and made many helpful suggestions. His insightful words also make up the foreword of this book. Many thanks to my editor, Dr. Richard Hodge, and the Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM) at the University of North Florida. They are a world-class training facility to thousands of municipal, county, state, and federal law enforcement officers. It is an honor to be affiliated with such a prestigious institution. I could not have been successful in my career had it not been for the love, support, and friendship of my wife of 28 years, Diane. At birth, our houses sat less than a block apart. We threw rocks at each other as children, attended school together, and our families remain good friends to this day. She has followed me around the state from one assignment to the next, and endured my many absences without complaint. How could I ever have been so lucky?

Gavin de Becker is widely regarded as our nation's leading expert on predicting violent behavior. He has designed threat assessment systems for such clients as the CIA, the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as State Police agencies protecting ten governors. His book, The Gift of Fear, was the #1 national bestseller in the U.S. and Canada, and is now published in 14 languages. FOREWORD by Gavin de Becker Before the 1940's, if one woman in an audience stood up and shrieked at the top of her lungs throughout an entire show she'd have been carted off to an asylum. By the mid-forties, however, entire audiences behaved like that, screaming, tearing at their clothes and hair, leaving their seats to board the stage. On December 30th, 1942, while Frank Sinatra sang at the Paramount Theater in New York, the behavior of the audience changed, and a part of our relationship to well-known people changed forever. Bizarre, attention seeking behavior became "normal" in the Sinatra days, to the degree that what surprised everyone in 1942 was expected two years later when Sinatra appeared again at the Paramount Theater. This time, the 30,000 screaming, bobby-soxed fans were joined by a troop of reporters. The media were learning to manipulate this new behavior to their advantage. Having predicted a commotion, 450 police officers were assigned to that one theater, and it appeared that society had learned to deal with this phenomenon. It had not. During the engagement, an 18-year old named Alexander Ivanovich Dorogokupetz stood up in the theater and threw an egg that hit Sinatra in the face. The show stopped, and for a moment, a brief moment, Sinatra was not the star. Now it was Dorogokupetz mobbed by audience members and Dorogokupetz who had to be escorted out by police. Society had not learned to deal with this, and still hasn't. Dorogokupetz told police: "I vowed to put an end to this monotony of two years of consecutive swooning. It felt good." Saddled with the least American of names, he had tried to make one for himself in the most American way, and but for his choice of a weapon, he would probably be as famous today as Frank Sinatra. You never heard of Alexander Dorogokupetz, of course, but Tom Taylor's had to think about people like that his whole professional life. You see, back in the late forties, elements in society were pioneering the skills of

manipulating emotion and behavior in ways that had never been possible before: electronic ways. Soon enough, political figures would have to be media figures as well to get their jobs, and to keep them. And soon enough, anyone who got close to a political leader with a gun or knife could become famous in an instant. Another name you likely never heard is Ruth Steinhagen. She was a teenager whose choices set in motion a series of events that led to the book you are holding. Ruth wasn't interested in Frank Sinatra because he belonged to everyone. Instead, she devoted her life to a baseball player named Eddie Waitkus. She collected press clippings about Eddie, slept with his picture under her pillow, attended every game she could, and sent him letter after letter, even though he never responded. At dinner each evening, Ruth arranged the chairs so that there was an empty one facing hers. She told her sister, "Eddie is in that chair." When Eddie Waitkus was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, Ruth stated that she could not live if he moved away from Chicago. She began to discuss suicide with one of her girlfriends and then set out to buy a gun. She wanted a pistol, but because a permit was required, she went to a pawnshop and bought a rifle instead. In the first week of June 1949, Ruth had decided on something better than suicide. She told her friend Joyce to "watch for the fireworks on Tuesday," the day she checked into the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, knowing from the Phillies' schedule that Eddie would be staying there. She brought along a suitcase filled with Eddie memorabilia, including the ticket stubs from fifty games she'd attended. She also brought the rifle. Ruth tipped a bellman three dollars to deliver a note to Eddie. On reading it, Eddie thought she was probably just another "Baseball Annie" (what we'd today call a groupie), and he agreed to visit her. Ruth put a knife in her skirt pocket, intending to stab Eddie in the heart as he entered her room, but he hurried past her, sat down in a chair, and asked, "So what's all this about?" "Wait a minute. I have a surprise for you," Ruth said, and then went to the closet and took out the rifle. "For two years, you have been bothering me, and now you are going to die." Ruth fired one shot into Eddie's chest. It punctured a lung and lodged just under his heart. The things Ruth said and did after the shooting were extraordinary in 1949, but no longer. She explained to police: I liked him a great deal and knew I could never have him, and if I couldn't

have him neither could anybody else. I've always wanted to be in the limelight. I wanted attention and publicity for once. My dreams have come true. At nineteen years old, Ruth felt it was better to be wanted by the police than not to be wanted at all. The police found this to be extraordinary, though today, we are jaded about these things. We live in a nation and a time in which bullets have affected national elections as much as ballots. As you'll learn in Dodging Bullets, other countries have had their share of assassination, of course, but killings rooted in some idealistic or political expediency are a far cry from shooting a stranger just to get "attention and publicity for once." There is also the uniquely American choice of targets. In the thirties and forties, baseball players and statesmen were the most prominent and adored idols. By the time Joe DiMaggio married Marilyn Monroe, the torch of idolatry had been passed from sports to entertainment. Twenty-six years later, an actor became president and a media addict (John Hinckley) shot him, in support of an obsession with a film actress (Jodie Foster). After a long courtship, the marriage between violence and media and politics was consummated. What started with Ruth Steinhagen hasn't ended yet, and that makes Tom Taylor's contribution all the more critical. His innovative protection of four governors, his participation in the protection of every president for more than two decades, his service in the top post of the National Governor's Security Association (NGSA) all this has given him a unique vantage from which to view and study the protection of public figures. When you watched the visit of Pope John Paul II to America, you may not have seen Tom Taylor, but he was there as part of an intelligence workgroup. And Tom Taylor's influence is part of what keeps your governor safe. I met Tom at Central Intelligence Agency Headquarters in 1994. We were there to participate in the Government's first Threat Management Conference, a gathering of experts committed to improving the science and art of threat assessment. We talked about Arthur Bremer, the man who shot Alabama Governor and presidential candidate, George Wallace (and also stalked President Richard Nixon). Bremer had written in his diary: "I want a big shot and not a little fat noise. I am tired of writing about it, about what I was going to do, about what I failed to do, about what I failed to do again and again. It bothers me that there are about 30 guys in prison now who threatened the Pres and we never heard a thing about them."

Assassins, you see, do not fear they are going to jail -- they fear they are going to fail, and Tom Taylor is one of the reasons that the people who try to harm public figures do fail more frequently than they succeed. Some people put years into their heroic accomplishments; assassins do not. While stalking Richard Nixon, Bremer wrote, "I'm as important as the start of WWI. I just need the little opening, and a second of time." In their search for attention and identity, most assassins go to the people who have the most identity to spare: famous people. Assassins know that when someone kills or attempts to kill a famous person in America, it is the grandest of all media events. A television reporter will stand with his camera crew just a few feet from another reporter standing with his camera crew, and invariably they will each call the crime "a senseless act." But assassination is anything but senseless to the perpetrator, and those reporters are part of the sense it makes. The literally millions of dollars spent videotaping every single walk a president takes to and from a car or helicopter makes sense too. Some call it "the assassination watch," and electronic news organizations have obviously concluded that the cost of all those crews and all those satellite-dish vans, all that equipment and all that wasted videotape, is worth the images they'll get if somebody starts firing a gun. Thus, television and the assassin have invested in the same crime, and every few years they together collect the profit from it. Tom and I talked about this reality that day at the CIA, recalling that Bremer weighed his act in terms of television ratings. In his journal (which he always intended to publish after he became famous), Bremer wrote: "If something big in Nam flares up, [my attack] won't get more than three minutes on network T.V. news." These senseless acts make perfect sense, of course, and Tom Taylor's sensible book gives information and encouragement to those who dedicate themselves to the protection of our public figures -- and our system. I am proud to have worked with him, and grateful to have been enlightened by this book. You will be too. Gavin de Becker Los Angeles, California, July 1999

A ship cannot cross the sea without a helmsman, nor can one defeat an enemy without tactics and strategy. Maurikios, c.539-602, The Strategikon

Strategy and tactics do not change. Only the means of applying them are different ... Good tactics can save the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy the best strategy. General George S. Patton, 1885-1945

Prologue Death's Icy Hand: Assassination is a dynamic phenomenon, whose practitioners are seeking immortal notoriety. Attacks against public figures are crimes that evoke a sense of fear and alarm in our society. The days on which our leaders are killed or injured are often burned into our memories: the day John F. Kennedy was slain, the shooting of John Lennon, Ronald Reagan, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., or the untimely deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Princess Diana. Many people can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they learned of these horrible incidents. I was in the 7th grade when JFK was killed and I remember they called a school assembly to announce the news. The principal broke down and cried on the stage in front of us, exemplifying the reaction of an anguished nation. We sat stunned, unable to grasp all of the implications, and cried simply because we liked the president and couldn't understand why anyone would kill a man like him. Assassinations are usually public spectacles, carried out against a symbolic target. Such attacks seem to be a regular part of media broadcasts today, capturing the attention of the public, and there is a certain mystique about it that can glamorize this sort of crime. Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman, and John Warnock Hinckley join the ranks of cult heroes like Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker). Most of them will accomplish what few of us will ever achieve: having their pictures featured on the front pages of major newspapers or magazines. The Unabomber's picture made the covers of Time, Newsweek, and U.S News and World Reports in April 1996, following his arrest. The word genius accompanied each picture. Assassination exposes the unsettling fact that even the most powerful people are vulnerable, despite protection. The violent, unexpected death of a charismatic leader is a collective death, stirring the strongest emotions -- fear, anger, despondency, suspicion. Conspiracy theories spring up around them like mushrooms in the shadow of a great tree. A 1998 poll by The History Channel and Roper Starch, a New York-based market research firm, found that 73% of Americans believe conspirators killed Kennedy. Thirty-five years after the assassination, a CBS poll found that only 1 in 10 Americans believed that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. These are amazing statistics when you consider that half of all the Americans alive today were not even born when Kennedy was killed. An executive vice president of The History Channel said, "More than a quarter of a century after it occurred, many Americans still consider Kennedy's assassination one

of the central events of their lives, even more memorable than his presidency." A 1999 survey by The Atlanta Journal- Constitution found that only one in eight Americans believe James Earl Ray was solely responsible for the assassination of King. One quarter felt that people other than Ray were responsible, and 46% thought that Ray was aided by others. Ray pleaded guilty in 1969 to killing King, but changed his story within days. He maintained his innocence until he died last year at age 70, while serving a 99-year sentence. King's family appealed to the Justice Department to re-open the case. (Want to know who really killed JFK and King? Read Gerald Posner's excellent books, Case Closed and To Kill A Dream; the mountain of evidence is unshakable, when viewed with a dispassionate eye). The consequences of assassination can be far-reaching: social, economic, political, psychological, even global -- potentially affecting the destinies of millions of people. The assassination of Macedonian King Philip II in 336 B.C. launched the epic career of his son, Alexander the Great, who went on to conquer most of the civilized world. Most experts agree that World War I started as a result of two shots fired by a rebellious teenager in Sarajevo, which killed Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. In 1994, after the assassination of Presidential-candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio in Mexico, the value of the Mexican peso plummeted and it had a destabilizing effect on the entire government. He had insisted on little security so that he could be "close to the people," and one of those people killed him. The bullet wounded his entire nation. Later that same year, when an airplane carrying the presidents from Rwanda and Burundi crashed in Africa, killing everyone aboard, heavy fighting broke out in both countries amid rumors that the plane had been shot down. By way of comparison, when TWA 800 crashed in 1996, 230 were killed; the crash of Pan Am 103 left 270 dead in 1988; but the crash of just that one airplane in Africa eventually killed over 500,000 people. The list of assassinated leaders in recent history reads like a who's-who: U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1865) King Michael of Serbia (1868) President Morales of Bolivia (1872) Lord Mayo of India (1872) U.S. President James Garfield (1881) Czar Alexander II of Russia (1881) Lord Cavendish and Under-Secretary Burke of Ireland (1882) President Sadi Carnot of France (1894)

Empress Elizabeth of Austria (1897) President Jose Barrios of Guatemala (1898) King Umberto I of Italy (1900) Kentucky Governor William Goebel (1900) U.S. President William McKinley (1901) King Alexander I and Queen Draga of Serbia (1903) Grand Duke Sergius of Russia (1905) King Carlos and Crown Prince Luis of Portugal (1908) Prime Minister Peter Stolypin of Russia (1911) President Francisco Madero of Mexico (1913) King George of Greece (1913) Archduke and Duchess Ferdinand of Austria (1914) Religious Leader Grigori Rasputin of Russia (1916) President Sidonio Paes of Portugal (1918) Czar Nicholas II of Russia (1918) President Venustiano Carranza of Mexico (1920) President-elect Alvaro Obregon of Mexico (1928) Prime Minister Yuko Hamaguchi of Japan (1930) Prime Minister Inukai Ki of Japan (1932) President Paul Doumer of France (1932) Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak (1933) Chancellor Engelbert Dolfuss of Austria (1934) King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (1934) U.S. Senator Huey Long of Louisiana (1935) Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini of Italy (1945) King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand (1946) Spirtual Leader Mahatma Gandhi of India (1948) President Husni Zaim of Syria (1949) King Abdullah ibn-Hussein of Jordan (1951) President Jose Antonio Remon of Panama (1955) President Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua (1956) King Faisal II of Iraq (1958) Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (1959) President Rafael Trujillo of Dominican Republic (1961) President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam (1963) U.S. President John F. Kennedy (1963) Premier Hassan Ali Mansour of Iran (1965) Civil Rights Leader Malcom X (1965) Prime Minister A.T. Balewa of Nigeria (1966) Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd of South Africa (1966)

Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King (1968) Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1968) Premier Wasfi Tell of Egypt (1971) President Salvador Allende of Chile (1973) Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco of Spain (1973) President Park Chung-Hee of South Korea (1974) King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1975) Former-Premier Aldo Moro of Italy (1978) Lord Louis Mountbatten of England (1979) English Musician John Lennon (1980) President Anwar Sadat of Egypt (1981) President Bashir Gemayel of Lebanon (1982) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India (1984) Prime Minister Olaf Palme of Sweden (1986) Prime Minister Rashid Karami of Lebanon (1987) President Rene Mouawad of Lebanon (1989) Former-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India (1991) President Mohamed Boudiaf of Algeria (1992) President Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka (1993) Presidential-Candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio of Mexico (1994) Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel (1995). President Bare Mainassara of Niger (1999) Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian of Armenia (1999) These are only the names of the most notable world figures assassinated in recent history; the last 135 years or so. Add to this the names of lessor officials -- governors, mayors, legislators, political candidates, diplomats, judges, ministers, prosecutors, celebrities, and CEOs -- and the numbers soar to several hundred. Go back into Biblical times, and the number would easily be several thousand. Assassinations have been carried out since long before Caesar was stabbed 49 times by his friends. If you included the names of assassinated Mafia chieftains and other rogues -- such as Lee Harvey Oswald, Joey Gallo, Sam Giancana, George Lincoln Rockwell, Leon Trotsky, Che Guevara, Emiliano Zapata, and Pancho Villa -- these numbers would easily double. The much-quoted line of Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), "Assassination never changed the history of the world," are empty words that echo through a graveyard, where headstones display the names of the most rich and powerful. As sobering as a stroll through Arlington National Cemetery. Who can say how history would have changed had they not been killed prematurely?

The saddest part of it all is that these great men and women did not have to die when they did. Their deaths involved many factors, to include being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, one factor that they nearly all share is that, despite receiving threats of harm, they received pitifully poor protection. In many cases the protective shield was no more than a facade, consisting of a few uniformed escorts. Just as most airplane crashes are chalked up to "pilot error," the security element, if present at all, was taken by surprise and reacted poorly to the attack. If the principles of world-class protection had been followed, nearly every one of these leaders would not have died when they did! Assassinations embody the best and worst in mankind. The charismatic public figure in the pursuit of some exciting endeavor, attacked by an angry and obsessed individual, with the courageous bodyguard standing in harm's way to foil the attack. The bodyguard represents the last ring of defense between the public figure and the assassin. Because they occupy this ground, known as the kill zone -- only a few feet, even inches, from the dignitary -- their position is one of constant stress and responsibility. The Roman Emperor Hadrian (76-138 A.D.) ordered that a wall be built across northern England to separate the Romans from the barbarians. Much of the wall, stretching 85 miles, still stands to this day. In essence, the bodyguard serves as the Hadrian's Wall for the public figure, separating him from those who wish him harm or threaten his safety. Author David Morrell eloquently describes this work as "the fifth and most noble profession." He explains, "At the start, there were hunters, then farmers, then with something to be gained by barter, prostitutes and politicians. Given some debate about precedence, those are the first four human endeavors. But as soon as something can be gained, it must also be protected." Hence the "fifth" profession. The Protective Dilemma: How many jobs call for you to sit around everyday and think about being attacked by someone you have never met? The bodyguard must constantly scan the people and conditions surrounding the dignitary, alert for any sign of danger or increased risk. He must permit those who "belong" to approach the VIP, and discreetly prevent those who do not belong from approaching, while maintaining a position to intercept any threat. When the VIP moves, greeting and interacting with others, the bodyguard experiences a collage of blurred faces and hands, usually allowed only a few seconds to interpret each person's intentions. It's like tackling a "Where's Waldo?" puzzle. Whatever threat may exist lies hidden among a thousand false alerts. Often, the public figure changes direction

suddenly, throwing the bodyguard out of position or putting strangers between him and the VIP, known by the hopeful term "protectee." Add to this the pressure of not offending the dignitary. Most protectees cite the rule that the bodyguard should be "close enough to protect me, but not so close that I have to introduce him." If a bodyguard reacts to a harmless situation, such as frisking a strange man with his hand in his pocket, the VIP can become irritated, ordering the bodyguard to "back off," in essence kicking the guard dog when it barks at the Avon lady. This creates a situation in which the bodyguard may hesitate to react when a real threat presents itself. In addition, protective assignments are often boring and mundane. They involve seemingly endless hours of inaction, guarding an entrance or monitoring a surveillance camera or alarm system. During my career, there were often days in which I worked a full shift at the governor's office or mansion and never saw the governor or first lady. And yet, the bodyguard is expected to remain alert for that one second or two in which a threat puts the protectee's life at risk. Former Secret Service Director Lewis Merletti describes the protective mission of his agency this way: "Every day is our Super Bowl. There is no way we can afford to lose today and catch back up tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. There is no World Series of Secret Service events. We don't need to win four games, we need to win every game!" Merletti is a 5th Special Forces veteran from Vietnam, with over twenty years as a protector of presidents. In 1998, ABC aired a special entitled Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Service, hosted by Joan Lunden. She asked then-director Merletti where the president was safest. He responded, "Everywhere he goes," and stressed, "because of what we do!" He explained, "Most people would think that he's the safest at the White House. But everywhere he goes, we reconstruct the security that is at the White House." When asked what made him nervous, he stated, "Nothing makes me nervous." This confident approach does not come from a false sense of security -- the president is surrounded by guns and armor, therefore nothing can happen -- but from a knowledge that the environment around the president can be made safe for him to travel through. In his book The President Has Been Shot, Herbert Abrams writes, "Physically surrounding the president is not sufficient protection. The president's ultimate shield must be the ability of the Secret Service to keep him out of dangerous environments." I have worked many protective operations with Director Merletti, when he was the detail leader for President Clinton, and one thing was always clear to me: he understood and practiced the principles of world-class protection. Nowhere on the planet will you find a

more exemplary protective operation. The Warren Commission Report, published in 1964, is a profound and important document, despite the feelings of those displeased with its conclusions. In this book, I will point out many of its painful lessons that still apply to world-class protection. For example, the report states that "the protection of the President of the United States is an immensely difficult and complex task. It is unlikely that measures can be devised to eliminate entirely the multitude of diverse dangers that may arise, particularly when the President is traveling in this country or abroad. The protective task is further complicated by the reluctance of Presidents to take security precautions which might interfere with the performance of their duties, or their desire to have frequent and easy access to the people." The report recognizes that "the history of Presidential protection shows growing recognition over the years that the job must be done by able, dedicated, thoroughly professional personnel, using the best technical equipment that can be devised." Blueprint Of A Bodyguard: Yogi Berra once said of baseball that "90% of the game is half mental." I know what he was trying to say. Most experts agree that executive protection work is 90% mental. The work seldom requires a great deal of physical strength, but, to be effective, demands Herculean levels of mental strength and concentration. If guarding VIPs was golf or basketball, the world-class protective specialist would rank with Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan. World-class protection is to bodyguards what Niagra Falls is to water. But the common misconception is the opposite: protective operations require a giant with a black belt in bad attitude and little else. The only test question on the bodyguard's application is, "Can you bench press a Buick?" and the most impressive reference on his resume' is that he served as a bouncer on the Jerry Springer Show. In Robert Penn Warren's 1946 Pulitzer prize-winning book, All the King's Men, he describes a colorful Southern governor named Willie Stark. Stark's bodyguard is a character called "Sugar-Boy" O'Sheean, an Irishman who gets his name from his habit of eating sugar cubes. O'Sheean's talents include being able to drive Stark's Cadillac at reckless speeds, shooting targets with deadly accuracy, and showing a deep sense of loyalty to Governor Stark. But in the arena of mental stability, he borders on retardation, spewing saliva when he talks and barely able to carry on an intelligent conversation. This stereotype seems to have endured to present times. The reputation for the future sentry doesn't look any brighter. In William C. Dietz's futuristic novel Bodyguard, the protagonist is a 7'2", 250

pound, ex-Marine named Max Maxon, who is "well aware of the fact that whatever value [bodyguards] had was related to brawn rather than brains." He explains that the triangular-shaped steel plate in his head is from an explosion, resulting in a loss of brain matter, "which is why I eke out a living as a bodyguard instead of doing something more respectable." He notes that the requirements for the job call only for "a reasonable degree of mobility and a valid weapons permit." Yet, despite this jaded opinion of his own profession, Maxon is described as being "the best that money can buy." Celebrities like Madonna and Michael Jackson may want to employ a bodyguard like Mr."T," who bulldozes a path through the crowd, growling, "Outta the way, fool!" But this type of sentry would not last a day, protecting most public figures or any elected official. These "gorilla" tactics draw attention, reflect badly on the protectee, and will not deter those who are bent on doing the public figure harm. They also open the celebrity to law suits from those manhandled by their bouncers. They are useful to celebrities who like to cause a stir or attract attention, not avoid it. Comparing bodyguards to world-class protective specialists is like comparing a chain saw to a scalpel. In his excellent manual for CEOs, The Complete Security Guide for Executives, author Neil Livingstone puts it this way: "You don't want Dirty Harry as a bodyguard. The bodyguard's job is the avoidance of threats, so bodyguards should be chosen for the size of their brains, not the width of their shoulders ... Good security is first and foremost an intellectual activity requiring judgment and training ... In the final analysis, you want bodyguards who regard their chief responsibility as avoiding trouble but are capable of responding skillfully in the event of an emergency." If you were asked to make a list of your most valuable possessions, hopefully -- somewhere above the $250,000 home, BMW convertible, and stock portfolio -- you would list your life. And yet public figures who can afford protection, or qualify for it by virtue of their position, often entrust their lives to minimum wage employees with little or no training. The Irish have a proverb that warns never to bolt your door with a boiled carrot. The selection of protective personnel is often one of economics, rather than ability ... a warm body (or boiled carrot, whichever the case may be). The security industry seems to be top heavy with soft vegetables. In early 1999, an FAA report revealed that of 10,000 or so security tests in which weapons were carried through airport checkpoints, each airline failed about 20 tests. An official with the Air Travelers Association remarked, "We use the lowest paid employees to do these repetitive tasks and we shouldn't be surprised when a number of these [weapons] get through." Another private sector expert added, "It's not your best and your brightest, it's your cheapest and least motivated."

Walk into any garage and pick out a mechanic. Clean him up, give him a $100.00 haircut, and dress him in surgical greens. Now take that socket wrench out of his hand and give him a bone saw. And just like that, you've created a brain surgeon! He'll even work for a fraction of the money that brain surgeons are paid. But, you say, he doesn't know anything about brain surgery. You would never trust him with the life of your child. I don't mean to imply that protection work is as complicated or delicate as brain surgery. However, public figures often take a rental cop or ex-soldier, put him in a cheap suit, hang some Gargoyle sunglasses on him, screw an earphone into one ear, and call him "a personal protection specialist." They don't hesitate to entrust this individual with their lives for two reasons: (1) they don't seriously believe that anything will really happen to them or that the mere presence of this person will keep the enemy at bay (This is comparable to a farmer deploying a scarecrow to keep the crows out of his cornfield, in the hopes that the birds will be intimidated). (2) they are mistakenly convinced that if anything does happen, this guy will be able to stop it. When I had a vacancy on the governor's security detail, I could, theoretically, choose from any one of about 800 troopers for a replacement. And, again theoretically, any one of them would be capable of doing an adequate job. But we only selected from volunteers -- those interested in doing the job -- and looked for the officer who exhibited not only initiative, integrity, loyalty, and the ability to work with others, but also someone who exhibited good situational skills (the ability to think on your feet). I never once checked to see if they had a black belt in martial arts or shot a top score at the pistol range. Once I had someone with the right stuff, I then trained the heck out of them! It wasn't unusual that some of the best people to ever serve in the division were people who had only been considered average road officers, and those who came into the detail like flaming meteors often didn't measure up. World-class protective specialists come in all sizes, all shapes, all nationalities, and both genders. They share many traits that will be discussed in this book, but at the top of the list is the ability to anticipate problems and counter them before they occur. Anticipation, instinct, and focus are functions of mental proficiency. In their book Marketing Warfare, authors Al Ries and Jack Trout contend that "the mind is the battlefield ... The

entire battleground is just six inches wide." As author John Oldham put it, "All the future lies beneath your hat." "The best soldier does not attack," noted Lao Tsu, the 5th century B.C. Chinese philosopher. "The superior fighter succeeds without violence. The greatest conqueror wins without a struggle ... This is called mastery of men." In the most often quoted military treatise in history, The Art of War, Sun Tzu explains that to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. Belisarius (c. 494-565), the famed Byzantine general, observed that "the most complete and happy victory is this: to compel one's enemy to give up his purpose, while suffering no harm oneself." In 1978, while working as a road trooper in southeast Missouri, I attended training in the detection of drunk drivers. The class was made up of veteran troopers from around the state. For the most part, this was a serious, "take no B.S." group, who would just as soon crown a mouthy drunk with his flashlight as take any verbal abuse. Many officers grumbled that since the Patrol had issued a strict policy to handcuff everyone arrested for DUI, the number of those resisting arrest had gone up. The suspects were fighting, not because they were under arrest, but because they didn't want to be handcuffed. During the discussion, it was pointed out that one trooper in the class had arrested an incredible number of drunks, locked them all up, and had never had to fight one in his seven years of duty. He was not big or intimidating, but more the intellectual type. When asked what his secret was, he commented that he simply engaged the suspects in conversation during the process. He talked baseball, weather, cars, women, fishing, anything to ease their anxieties about being arrested. He related one story of a 6'10" construction worker with arms bigger than the trooper's legs, who refused to be handcuffed and taken to jail. The officer calmly tried to convince the man that he was going to jail one way or the other. Finally, the man agreed to cooperate, but only if he could wear the trooper's hat. "What did you do?" asked another trooper in the class. "He wore my hat until I locked the cell door in his face," replied the officer. It struck me that wrestling an inebriated giant into jail was not the tactics of a superior warrior. The superior warrior used finesse to win without a struggle. I'm 6'4" and weigh about 235 pounds, but I've seldom ever had to throw my weight around to get things done. During my career as an executive protection specialist for four Missouri governors, I never had to draw my weapon or fire a round or split someone's head with my ASP baton or even blind an opponent with pepper spray. I've never been sued, despite arresting thousands of people. My success was probably due to a

combination of great training, high quality peers and supervisors, the right attitude, and a healthy dose of good luck. I've used the principals described in this book to protect governors and other officials, celebrities, meeting sites, and even objects (the 1976 Freedom Train and the 1984 Olympic Torch procession through Missouri, to name a few). These principles can be utilized by anyone to enhance their own safety: a prosecutor who has no bodyguards and has been threatened by gang members he is prosecuting; a CEO who works in a high-security corporate office, but leaves his protection behind when he leaves the office; a mayor who has only one officer who serves as both bodyguard and driver; a governor or prime minister who has full-time, around-the-clock protection. Many bodyguards boast of the numerous, bloody confrontations they've had during their careers without realizing that they're admitting they allowed their protectee to walk into a trap. In the 1939 movie Union Pacific, character Jeff Butler decides, "I don't believe I'll need bodyguards." His colleagues object, expressing concern for his safety. Character Leach Overmile offers him reassurance: "We've had a lot of experience, Captain. We bodyguarded the last two troubleshooters right up to the very minute they was killed." In his book Under Fire, Olive North writes, "... if you're in the security business it doesn't look all that great on your resume' when you're forced to mention that the last guy you were protecting is unable to provide a recommendation because he was gunned down while picking up his dry cleaning." I will refer to those in the field as "bodyguards," although most of us cringe at the comparison to a knuckle-dragging, bur-headed titan in a cheap suit, with two guns and boot knife. I will also refer to most protectees and bodyguards as "he" or "him," but only to keep the verbiage from being weighed down with politically-correct text. I've guarded numerous female protectees, and had the honor of working with several world-class, female protective specialists. It's been my great pleasure to have worked closely with Secret Service agents for Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, when those protectees came into contact with mine. It's been my privilege to have trained and worked with some of the finest executive protection specialists in the world, from the President's detail, the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, and every governor's security detail in the nation, to private sector experts like Gavin de Becker. I've spent a good part of my 27-year career with the Missouri State Highway Patrol searching for the best in the business -- the best people, the best operations, and the best equipment -- in order to provide Missouri governors with world-class protective service.

The protective secrets revealed in this book have appeared in other forums. I have not included any details that would endanger any protectee, nor is this book a "kiss and tell" account of "the night the governor had sex with an intern." I have been encouraged over the years to write such a book, but I feel strongly that it would be a breech of protective ethics. Protective Strategy vs. Protective Tactics: The difference between strategy and tactics in protective operations might be expressed this way: Strategy is the planning of the operation, prior to walking out the door with the protectee; Tactics are the procedures used to protect the dignitary, once the protective detail has begun. Strategy incorporates the ideas that will keep the protectee from harm, and the reactive plans needed if a threat is encountered. Tactics are the measures used in real-world conditions when the protectee encounters the public. Some strategies may sound good, but are not practical in the real world. For example, if you wanted to ensure that there were no weapons in the crowd that your protectee is about to encounter, a strategy might include having a giant crane lower a powerful magnet over the crowd to suck up any guns. Following the incident in 1974, when Robert Preston landed a stolen Army helicopter on the south lawn of the White House, the Secret Service entertained strategies that included burying balloons under the south grounds that could be inflated to obstruct incoming unauthorized aircraft. They also considered employing shoulder-fired missiles to shoot down unauthorized aircraft that approached the White House. Neither of these strategies proved to be workable. It would be impossible to write a book on protective strategies without discussing specific tactics that can be employed to protect a public figure. There are dozens of books and manuals that discuss the mechanics of protective operations. It is not my intention to reproduce those methods in great detail here. This is less a how to book for the beginner, and more a sophisticated discussion for the experienced professional, who is interested in reaching the next level. This work will focus mainly on developing the mental skills required to be a world-class protective specialist. Those internal qualities that elevate the good to the level of the best. The purpose of this book is to take the bodyguard and the public figure to a higher level of thought or, as Oliver Wendell Holmes expressed, to stretch their minds to a new dimension. But to assist the reader, I have listed the key principles for world-class protection in Appendix A of the book. A lot of this "perestroika thinking" is based on ancient wisdom and I will acknowledge those great thinkers in tactics and strategy that history has

known. Their words are as true today as they were when first conceived. Man has not changed much. Violence has not changed much, either! An old Russian maxim advises that "a good proverb does not strike one in the brow, but full in the eye." The quotes used throughout this text will treat the reader to thousands of year's worth of protective insight and common sense tactics. Will Rogers joked that "everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else," but the tragedies described in these pages are anything but funny. The anecdotal stories discussed throughout this book are offered to help the reader better appreciate the risks and the solutions that will reduce those risks. Whether the attack occurred fifty years ago or last week, criminals nearly always follow the same steps to carry out an assault. It has been my sad realization over twenty- plus years of protection work that the following are true: ~ the large majority of public figures don't have a clue about the risk they incur from their positions of power, or how to take simple precautions to protect themselves ~ many, if not most, bodyguards don't have an accurate appreciation of the potential risk their protectee faces and are ignorant of the "vital 20%" of areas and activities that must be covered in order to ensure safety ~ the same mistakes are made by bodyguards and their protectees, over and over again through history, leaving a blood trail from one assassination to the next. These trails are often followed by other assassins, as surely as a jackal follows the scent of his next prey. "Nobody at West Point had told me you can learn as much from a lousy leader as from a good one...," General Norman Schwarzkopf declared in his book It Doesn't Take A Hero. I can say the same: In my search for the best in the business, I've learned as much from the lousy bodyguards as I have from the good ones. You will find in this book those lessons; both the best and the worst in the world of public figure protection. This book deals with such traits as honor, selfless service, integrity, duty, and loyalty. While the title suggests that it only covers strategies for protective operations, the principles more broadly apply to any endeavor that involves risk taking, initiative, and strategic thinking. As former USMC Major Arthur L. Clark points out in his book Warrior's Wisdom, "... if we can learn to capture the warrior's spirit and bring to daily life the same degree of

commitment that the warrior brings to battle, we might have greater chances for success on any battlefield ... More simply, the warrior spirit is about character." The principles set forth in Sun Tzu's The Art of War have been applied to military operations, business transactions, martial arts, and even sexual relationships. "Your battles will be painful," states former SEAL Commander Richard Marcinko. "The enemies you engage will be fierce. But if you bring a warrior's heart into battle, you will not only survive, you will prevail." Unlike other books on executive protection, this one will expose what is in the heart and mind of the bodyguard, the heart and mind of the public figure, and the heart and mind of the assassin. It will discuss what draws these individuals together, the role each plays in the dynamics of the attack or confrontation, and how a lethal approach can be defeated. For each of the three players, it's a mind game: the determination and resourcefulness of the assassin, versus the personality and lifestyle of the public figure, versus the training, level of awareness, and strategy of the bodyguard. It's a three-sided chess match, played in a room shrouded with fog, where each is unable to clearly see all of the other players' pieces on the board. What is meant by the term "world class" protection? Every governor in the nation has a protective detail of troopers. Imagine if you selected the best bodyguard from each one of those details. You would end up with a group of fifty of the finest bodyguards in the nation. Now take the ten best out of that group. Then select the ten best out of the hundred or so Secret Service agents assigned to the President's detail. Then the ten best bodyguards from mayors details or the private sector. Put that with the ten best Russian bodyguards, then the ten best from Germany, Israel, and Britain. Once you have selected the best bodyguards from all of the major nations, now select the top twenty from that group. Sort of an all-star team of bodyguards. If we were going to form a world-class protective team from that group, we would want to break the group up into areas of expertise: the best drivers, the best advance agents, the best detail leaders and shift leaders, and the best intelligence agents. But what if we could only afford a detail of two or three world-class people, who had to do it all? What would that group look like? What would set them apart from everyone else? What makes a world-class protective specialist? What is his focus? What makes him tick? The answers may surprise you.

Chapter 1: Soak Up Six for the Boss What leads a healthy, sane, and intelligent person to pursue a relatively low- paying career in which their highest responsibility is to lay down their life for another person, if necessary? Where do you find these people? How do you motivate someone to take on these dangerous assignments? Do most bodyguards accept these assignments for the excitement or just the paycheck, falling prey to some "John Wayne" attitude that they cannot be killed? Do they suffer from a quixotic delusion or death wish? In Harm's Way: Who or what would you die for? Cemeteries the world over are filled with the cadavers of leaders and their dedicated, brave, and dead bodyguards. Studies show that in an assassination, the bodyguard is often killed right along with the dignitary. If you could lift those bodyguards from their graves and ask them if they died for a good cause, most would probably say, "Yes." If you asked them if they really expected to be killed in action, most would probably say, "No." A veteran Secret Service agent was once asked, "What do you do if you're assigned to protect a VIP and you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a fire fight?" Without hesitation, the agent responded, "You soak up six for the Boss!" Clint Eastwood's 1993 movie, In the Line of Fire, depicts veteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan, who is haunted by the belief that he failed to act quickly enough to have taken the fatal shot that killed President Kennedy. At one point in the movie, Horrigan is sitting on the steps of Lincoln Monument. He turns and looks sadly at the statue of the assassinated president and utters, "Damn, wish I could have been there for you, pal." During an exchange in the movie, Horrigan's partner tells him, "I joined the Secret Service because I wanted to protect people." Horrigan retorts, "The idea of throwing yourself in front of a gun -- hoping like Hell the bullet hits you instead of the guy you're protecting -- you find that appealing?" A younger and less cynical Horrigan would have answered his own question with an enthusiastic "YES!" In his book Confessions of an Ex- Secret Service Agent, author George Rush writes, "Secret Service agents promise to step in front of the president, puff up their chests, stretch out their arms and catch a spiraling bullet as though it were a touchdown pass on homecoming weekend." On March 30, 1981, the world witnessed this phenomenon on nationwide TV when Special Agent Tim McCarthy took one of six bullets intended for President Ronald Reagan. Detail leader Jerry Parr later

attributed this selfless act of courage with saving his life and that of the president. Slow motion footage clearly showed McCarthy taking the hit at the same instant Parr was pushing Reagan into the armored limo and passing directly behind McCarthy. Parr explained, "Basically, what Tim McCarthy did was extend that open door for me to get the president behind, but I owe my life to him, because if you stop that film when the third shot is fired by John Hinckley, I either get it or the president gets it. McCarthy did what he was supposed to do that day, he put his flesh in front of the president." "Stepping into the line of fire is not something you do by instinct," notes Merletti. "It's a perishable skill." Many bodyguards are convinced that they could perform this "McCarthy Movement," if caught in the same situation, but the truth is that most believe that "it will never happen to me." Mother Nature long ago programmed us with a strong sense of self-preservation that courses through our blood like a potent narcotic. Even the highly-trained McCarthy visibly flinched as he squared around to shield the president. This Bodyguard's Nightmare: I seldom remember my dreams, but there are two that have stayed with me over the years. When I awoke, they were vividly etched in my memory and I couldn't have forgotten them if I had tried. Both dealt with my position as a security specialist and surely carried some message that I was supposed to recognize. The first dream came to me several years ago. In it, I found myself standing on the south steps of the Missouri Capitol Building. I was wearing only underwear and the ice-cold marble steps were burning the bottoms of my bare feet like hot coals. To my right, the governor stood behind a wooden podium looking out over a crowd of several hundred people. He was about to deliver a speech. I looked at the crowd and saw that everyone was wearing a paper mask bearing Arthur Bremer's image, the man who attempted to assassinate Governor Wallace in 1972. Perhaps this meant that everyone there was a potential assassin. As the governor began his speech, a hand came out of the crowd holding a huge revolver. I lunged at the governor in an attempt to push him down, but I was moving in slow motion, as though under water. As I reached the governor, his face changed to that of a cadaver; pasty white with black eyes. His raspy voice carried the stench of death and ordered me to "Do your job!" I wedged myself between him and the assassin as the gun went off. I saw the bullet leave the barrel. It was huge and pointed, rotating slowly, like a NASA space probe. As the bullet closed in, I pushed out my chest to receive it. The point of the projectile pushed under my left nipple and I could feel its heat. I woke up with a gasp as it broke the skin.

In the second dream, I was riding on a bus through some nameless city, intently watching a small television screen on the right panel. On the set, I could see two people through the window of their building as they embraced each other and kissed. I was unable to take my eyes off the set, but was aware of two men who took the seat to my right. Another youth squeezed in next to me and another sat behind. One of the men said, "Some people watch some really sick stuff, huh?" The others chuckled and I knew they are referring to me, but it didn't seem to matter. The same man leaned forward, grinning, and said, "So long, dude." I turned to him, looked at his face, and instantly knew that I was about to be killed. As this realization set in, the man behind me drew a knife blade across my throat, blood gushed down my chest, and I felt myself sliding into darkness, as though riding a rapidly descending elevator. The men took my watch and wallet and headed up the aisle. My last thought was, "Won't they be surprised when they find out I'm a cop." I then awoke. In both dreams I felt helpless and ineffective. In the first, I reacted properly and was killed. In the second, I didn't react at all and was killed. I allowed myself to be distracted in the presence of danger and it cost me my life. Both possibilities are always a risk in public figure protection. Shrinks might classify these dreams as some type of "performance anxiety," having to do with something altogether different. I'm certain the same shrinks have never walked point for a high-profile dignitary through a hostile environment. Clint Eastwood has a memorable exchange in the movie with assassin John Malkovich, alias Booth, when Agent Horrigan asks him, "What do you see when you're in the dark and the demons come?" Booth answers immediately: "I see you, Frank. I see you standing over the grave of another dead president." It is, no doubt, the same nightmare that Horrigan, himself, has had a hundred times. Have Gun, Will Travel: The attitude of a world-class protective specialist rests on the bedrock of an inexorable sense of mission; a clear, no-nonsense belief in the duty to protect another human life from harm. Buddha was clearly talking about such individuals when he wrote "your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it." They have a passion for protection. Striding in front of the protectee, they rake the crowd with their warrior's glare, watching for any sign of hostility. Their scrutiny is the most critical possible, harshly judging within seconds the intentions of those approaching the protectee. No one escapes this once-over. It is tantamount to walking point in enemy territory. A missed sign of danger could allow the protectee to walk into an ambush. Each time the bodyguard escorts

the protectee out the door, he follows the cries of Shakespeare's King Henry V: "Once more unto the breech, dear friends, once more!" An unofficial slogan in the Secret Service is "You elect 'em, we protect 'em." This sense of mission is mirrored in Disraeli's statement: "Nurture your minds with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes," and they embrace the advice of the Roman historian, Tacitus (55-120 A.D.): "If we must fall, we should boldly meet the danger." In fact, they are advocates of Alan Harrington's opening lines in The Immortalist: "Death is an imposition on the human race, and no longer acceptable. Man has all but lost his ability to accommodate himself to personal extinction; he must now proceed physically to overcome it. In short, to kill death." If the bodyguard's duty is not to "kill Death," it's certainly to keep the Grim Reaper at bay or avoid an encounter with him. And if the encounter cannot be avoided, the bodyguard must be willing to risk his life -- or even give it up -- in an attempt to save the Boss. In Herodotus' The Histories, Demaratus tells the King of Persia about the valor of Spartan warriors: "Law is the master whom they own; and this master they fear more than thy subjects fear thee. Whatever he commands they do; and his commandment is always the same: it forbids them to flee in battle, whatever the number of their foes, and requires them to stand firm, and either to conquer or die." Perhaps the bravest of all Spartans, Herodotus tells us, is Dieneces. Before going into battle against the Medes, Dieneces is told that they would be facing so many barbarians that when they fired their arrows into the sky it would block out the sun. Dieneces calmly replies, "Good. Then we'll have our battle in the shade." Throughout history, the survival of a kingdom usually rested on the courage and loyalty of its protectors. Machiavelli discussed the importance of selecting high-quality protectors in his text The Art of War, written in 1521: The ancient lawgivers and governors of kingdoms and republics took great care ... to inspire all their subjects but particularly their soldiers with fidelity, love of peace, and fear of God. For who ought to be more faithful than a man entrusted with the safety of his country and sworn to defend it with the last drop of his blood? Who ought to be fonder of peace than those suffering from nothing but war? Who are under greater obligations to worship God than soldiers, daily exposed to innumerable dangers, men who have the most occasion for his protection? Many of the great works from history argued this fearless "duty to protect." The Mirror for the Princes, written in Persia in the 11th century, encourages warriors to "reconcile your heart with death. Under no circumstances be afraid, but be bold; for a short blade grows longer in the

hands of the brave." Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson's expression about "what a new face courage puts on everything," seems applicable here, as does William Makepeace Thackeray's "bravery never goes out of style." This may sound a little too romantically idealistic or extravagantly chivalrous to some, but not to those who have what it takes to be a world-class protective specialist. Make no mistake, I'm not saying that all bodyguards have this attitude -- too many don't -- or even that all good bodyguards have it. What I'm saying is that all of the world-class protective specialists I've known were driven by this heroic sense of mission. Modern Day Samurai: "The Way of the bodyguard is resolute acceptance of death." These words, from Musashi's A Book of Five Rings written in 1643, captures the code that a samurai warrior followed in protecting his master -- even at the risk of losing his own life -- the ultimate obligation. The word samurai means "one who serves." Musashi is said to have been the greatest swordsman that Japan has known; undefeated in about sixty sword duels during the 16th century. The Samurai warriors of Japan, the Hwarang warriors of Korea, the Swiss Guards at the Vatican, and the Knights of Europe are all among history's best known bodyguards. They were all trained for the same purpose: to protect the rulers of their nation and the sovereignty of the kingdom. The word "knight" is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "armed servant." The warriors of Hwarang, meaning "Flowering Knights," began over 2000 years ago in Korea and continued through the Silla and Koryo Dynasty. They were young men who exemplified the finest qualities of warriors, including martial arts, and were taught to act as role models of chivalry. They could execute spinning heel kicks so fast that their enemies thought the feet of the elite warriors were swords. They were also admired for their ferocious fighting spirit and loyalty to their king, who sent them on special missions, and they served as his bodyguards. They were skilled in the arts of fighting with honor, trickery and deception, the art of invisibility, and they specialized in reconnaissance. In 1994, I was elected president of the National Governor's Security Association (NGSA) by the detail leader for every governor in the nation. When I left office after serving two terms, the NGSA members presented me with a stunning Samurai sword. A brass plate on the display stand explained that it was presented for "outstanding service and protection." To me, the Samurai sword exemplifies the protective mission: to serve and protect the leader. Richard Marcinko states that any real leader is actually a servant.

"He's a servant of a great cause." Albert Einstein said that "only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." But providing selfless service can take a toll over time. A former protective specialist with the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service once told me that it cost him his marriage (as it has for many in the field). "Everyday, I took the protectee where he wanted to go, did what he wanted to do, and ate in restaurants that he wanted to eat in. Then I went home and my wife would have green beans and a chicken casserole fixed for supper. I'd refuse to eat it and demand meat loaf and corn. It was my way of regaining some control in my life." It eventually cost him a divorce. Daidoji Yuzan (1639-1730) wrote the Budo Shoshinshu, the warrior's primer, which laid out the rules for young samurai to emulate: "Thus, although he does not have to work himself to exhaustion like those of the lower positions, at the time when his general is in need, [the warrior] will not move one foot in retreat and will die a resplendent death, or else will stand in front of his lord or general, stopping arrows loosed by the enemy with his own body." In his final speech, Socrates (c. 470-399 B.C.) praised those who died in battle: "He must stay put then and face the danger without any regard for death or anything else rather than disgrace." No world-class bodyguard in history ever had the option of giving up. Imagine that when Hinckley's shots rang out, Reagan's agents threw their hands up in surrender or scurried for cover, leaving Reagan exposed to attack. (Sound ridiculous? Indira Gandhis bodyguards did just that!). This fierce dedication and loyalty made for a lethal fighter and, as the saying goes, a deadly warrior is far more fearsome than a deadly weapon. One Samurai book notes that, "within his heart, the warrior keeps to the ways of peace, but without he keeps his weapons ready for use." A true warrior does not want war, but hopes that his mere presence will deter his enemies. Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) is considered to be one of the greatest martial arts masters in history. Even at the age of 80, he exhibited incredible skills, able to defeat multiple opponents. He said simply, "A warrior is always engaged in a life-and-death struggle for Peace." The articulate statesman Dag Hammerskjold (1905-1961) put it this way: "Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment." But if you are in it for the hero's welcome, consider the words of St. Augustine (354-430 B.C.): "In doing what we ought, we deserve no praise, because it is our duty." One of the most famous Samurai legends in Japan is the story of The 47-Ronin. In 1701, three provincial chieftains were summoned to see the Shogun in Edo. One chieftain, Lord Asano, was not schooled in the rules of the court. When a courtier, Lord Kira, insulted him in front of the Shogan,

Asano drew his sword and wounded Kira. Lord Asano didn't know that to draw a sword in the presence of the Shogun was a serious offense. The Shogun ordered Asano to disembowel himself, which he did immediately. His faithful Samurai, sworn to protect him at all cost, vowed to avenge his death by killing Lord Kira. The Shogun, fearing further bloodshed, sent soldiers to surround Asano's castle and demand the Samurai to surrender. Inside, the captain of Asano's Samurai, Oishi Yoshio, held a meeting with the force of 321 warriors. They were given the option of leaving and most accepted. In the end, 47 Samurai swore a blood oath to fulfill their obligation to their dead ruler, no matter how long it took. They pretended to surrender and accepted their positions as ronin or masterless Samurai. The suspicious Shogun assigned spies to keep an eye on the warriors, and for two years the 47 ronin were followed wherever they went. Finally, convinced that they posed no threat, the spies were called off. In 1703, the 47 ronin reassembled and attacked Lord Kira's castle, slaughtering his 61 guards and beheading Kira. They took his head to the grave of Lord Asano and placed it on his tomb, fulfilling their obligation. Since they had violated the Shogun's order not to kill Kira, they then fulfilled their obligation to their country and committed suicide. The graves of the 47 ronin are, today, a national monument, signifying honor, loyalty, and duty. The bodyguard profession is one of the most misunderstood jobs in the world. During my career, I found that most people are intrigued with bodyguards and often related, "I think your job would be so interesting and exciting!" They failed to appreciate the amount of risk, responsibility, and stress that went with the territory. It is often a position every bit as precarious as that of the public figure. In a sense, moreso, because the public figure doesn't fail when attacked, but the bodyguard does. "A sweet thing to him who does not know it," observed Pindar (518-428 B.C.), "but to him who has made trial of it, it is a thing of fear." In his 1935 play, Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) writes, "To be my guardian, hover over the swords' points." Such loyalty and dedication isn't that hard to find in today's society. You need look no further than America's law enforcement, fire fighting, and military community. They willingly risk their lives every day in service to their country or community. If your next job application asked the question: "In the event that flaming spears are flying at the Boss, will you step in front of him and die?" would you check the "yes" or "no" box? The Warrior's Manifesto: There is no such thing as 100% protection. "Success cannot be guaranteed," explains Churchill. "There are no safe

battles." The Warren Commission Report also recognized this problem, pointing out that Presidents cannot be protected from every threat. The difficulty for the Secret Service varies with the attitude of the President to be protected and his willingness to conform to their plans for his safety. The bodyguard's task is to reduce the chance of assassination as far as legal and sociological restraints allow. After Frank Corder died, flying a stolen Cessna 150 into the south side of the White House in 1994, author Tom Clancy commented that "there is no such thing as absolute security anywhere in the world ... the safest mode of transportation known to man is, in fact, the elevator, but every so often an elevator will break." In fact, there were only seven Americans killed in terrorist attacks in 1997, which is about the same number killed in elevator accidents. But it is the terrorist attacks that capture the headlines and foster our fears. The old terrorist adage "kill one, frighten a thousand" was never more true than it is today, thanks to the media's ability to assault our senses with these images almost as they happen. The Latin poet Ovid (43 B.C.-17 A.D.) lamented that "when the thunderbolts strike one man, it is not one man only whom they fill with terror." Following the simultaneous bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 224 and injured thousands, it was revealed that such attacks had been forecast in a top secret report entitled Terror 2000. "If you harden one target ... terrorism merely deserts to a softer target," stated British security expert Michael Yardley. "That seems to be exactly what's happened here. It's almost impossible to protect yourself globally from this sort of attack." Generally speaking, when a target is hardened it disperses the threat, since most terrorists seek the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, there have been assassinations around the world committed from within by members of the protectees own security detail, staff, and even family. But these types of coups have been rare in American history. Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, was seemingly safe within the heavily-guarded walls of her compound, until two of her own Sikh bodyguards killed her with automatic weapons fire in 1984. South Korean President Park Chung Hee could not have been more secure than within the KCIA building next to his compound, the Blue House. But the KCIA chief carried out a palace coup during a meeting in 1979, killing Park and all his bodyguards. These examples bring to mind the words of the Roman scholar, Juvenal (c.60-c.140 A.D.), who asked, "Who guards the guardians?" This is also in keeping with Hollywood's apparent contempt for the bodyguard profession. Movies like Air Force One, Nick of Time, and The Assassination

File are only a few of the films that featured one or more security personnel who were in on the attack. "Who would have known of Hector, if Troy had been fortunate?" wrote Ovid. "A highway is made to valor through disasters." At the end of In the Line of Fire, Horrigan sadly recalls the disastrous day that JFK was killed. "The first shot sounded like a fire cracker. I looked over and saw him. I could tell he was hit. I don't know why I didn't react. I should have reacted. I should have been running flat out. I just couldn't believe it. If only I reacted I could have taken that [fatal] shot. That would have been all right with me." It is the mantra of the fatalist that a determined assassin cannot be stopped, if he is willing to sacrifice his life while taking the life of the protectee. Jerry Parr drives a stake through the heart of this misconception: People have asked me whether a determined assassin can kill the president. My only answer to that is you have to have a equally determined group of men and women to try to stop it. They have to be as enthusiastic about their defense of the president as the pathology that drives the assassin to kill. The Ultimate Sacrifice: "It is sweet and honorable," wrote Horace (65-8 B.C.), the Roman poet, "to die for one's country." One of the most often quoted verses in the Bible, John 15:13, serves as the credo for world-class protective specialists: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for another." The English poet William Blake (1757-1827) said, "The most sublime act is to set another before you." Joseph Campbell adds that "when we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self- preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness." "Being a [bodyguard] is nothing other than being a supporter of one's lord, entrusting matters of good and evil to him, and renouncing self- interest," states the Hagakure, written in 1716. "If there are but two or three men of this type, the [protectee] will be secure. When your thinking rises above concern for your own welfare, wisdom which is independent of thought appears ... If you are slain in battle, you should be resolved to have your corpse facing the enemy." Following the assassination of his father, Alexander the Great took over as King of Macedon at the age of twenty. In one of the greatest military campaigns in the history of mankind, he led the huge Macedonian army across Persia to India, covering 11,250 miles and conquering every army that resisted them, but at a huge cost. His bodyguards had their work cut out for them, since he often led the troops into battle. Alexander kept a copy of

Homer's Iliad under his pillow, and he sought strength from his heroes, Achilles and Hercules. Greek mythology tells us that when Achilles was young the Fates offered him the choice between a long life of ease or an early death with immortal glory, and he chose the second. It would seem that Alexander made the same choice. At the start of his campaign, Alexander stopped at Ilium and visited the tomb of Achilles, history's most invincible warrior. The local people showed him a dark shield they claimed to have belonged to Achilles and he took it, leaving his own in its place. The ornate shield, said to have been fashioned by the Gods, would save his life on a number of occasions. During the battle at the ancient citadel at Multan, Alexander scaled the wall using a storming ladder, followed by three bodyguards: Peucestas, his shield bearer; Abreas, a corporal; and Leonnatus, commander of Alexander's bodyguards. They topped the wall and came under a barrage of arrows fired from nearby towers. At this point, the ladder broke as several soldiers tried to join them. Trapped in the open, Alexander jumped to the ground inside the wall, followed by his protectors. With their backs against the wall, they fought fiercely as the enemy closed in on them. Abreas took an arrow in the forehead and was killed. Alexander took an arrow in his side through a gap in his armor, which pierced his lung. He collapsed, bleeding profusely. Peucestas and Leonnatus, both wounded, covered him with the sacred shield of Achilles and fought valiantly to protect him, until the Macedonians found a way inside to rescue them. Though Alexander was gravely wounded and the odds appeared impossible, their heroic actions saved the king. After he was shot, President Reagan gave tribute to the valor that Jerry Parr, Tim McCarthy, and two other agents exhibited during Hinckley's attack. "When a man's job is to risk his life for yours, you develop a relationship that is hard to describe ... My life was saved despite the bullet from an assassin's gun, and I will forever be in their debt." In her memoir, First Lady Barbara Bush made the following entry: "On September 3, 1980, my first day of campaigning for Ronald Reagan and George Bush, I flew to New Orleans under the protection of the Secret Service. This began a 12-year relationship with some of the world's finest, most professional men and women I have ever met. Over the years, people often would ask us if we didn't get tired of being constantly under surveillance. We never did. In fact, it amazed me whenever I heard someone complain about these brave people. Their only job is to see that you are safe. They are ready to risk their lives -- and many of them have -- for whomever they are protecting." Lucky is the world-class protective specialist who has

the privilege of serving and protecting people like these. On the night of his reelection in 1996, President Clinton was in Little Rock, addressing thousands of well-wishers, when he paid tribute to the agents who had protected him during the hectic and dangerous election campaign: "I thank especially my Secret Service detail that has been so challenged by a president determined not to be isolated from the American people." Anyone who contemplates a job in which they are responsible for protecting the life of another must pause to ponder the unthinkable: "If I find myself in a life- threatening situation, am I willing to risk my life in order to save the protectee?" Many of those in law enforcement, who take an oath to serve and protect at all costs, would not hesitate to answer "Yes!" And about 150 officers actually make the ultimate sacrifice every year, protecting the public. Since the first American police officer was killed in 1794 -- Marshal Robert Forsyth, appointed by President George Washington -- the number of officers killed each year has varied, with the 1920s and 1970s yielding the highest numbers: over 200 killed in a year. In our nation's history, over 14,000 officers have died in the line of duty. But that's only part of the story. Recent figures show that 66,000 officers are assaulted each year and 24,000 of those are injured in the line of duty. In order to determine which ones will risk their lives and which won't, you have to look beneath the badge, for at the core of these warriors is their belief in the "duty to protect." According to a Chinese proverb, there are plenty of men in the world, but very few heroes. The faces of these warriors often tell the tale. After inspecting his troops, the Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) announced, "I don't know what effect these men will have on the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me!" Emerson (1803-1882) described the character of soldiers this way: "Their looks bespeak an invincible stoutness: they have extreme difficulty to run away, and will die game." Among the world's most loyal bodyguards are the famed Swiss Guards, who have protected Popes at the Vatican for nearly 500 years, after Pope Giulio II was impressed by the bravery of Swiss mercenaries in 1506. The guards must be Roman Catholic Swiss men, under 30 years old, over 5'8", willing to learn Italian, and having served in the military. Each year, the guards hold up three fingers, signifying the Holy Trinity, and pledge to give up their lives protecting the Pope. Centuries ago, they kept their pledge when the troops of Emperor Charles V sacked Rome. In 1527, 147 Swiss Guards died protecting Pope Clement VII as he fled to safety. The truth is that none of us can really be sure how we would react until the bullets are actually zipping past us or the flames are lapping at the door.

The popularity of disaster movies, particularly the 1997 release of Titanic, feeds this fascination we have with how people react differently in life-threatening situations. Even more so Spielburgs Saving Private Ryan. It makes us wonder, "What would I do in that situation?" and many leave the theater thinking, "I would have done what the hero did!" One thing is clear: those who know that they can't or won't perform the McCarthy Movement should follow the advice of writer Anne Bronte (1820-1849) that he who "dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose." Way of the Bodyguard: Inspector Jim Beaton of the Royal Protection Group certainly craved the rose. He was assigned to the elite detail responsible for the protection of England's royal family. On March 20, 1974, he was on a routine assignment, riding with Princess Anne, her husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and their attendant, Rowena Brassey. Their distinctive Rolls Royce, driven by chauffeur Alexander Callender, was taking them back to Buckingham Palace. It was an assignment he had performed many times before, without incident. Suddenly a white Ford Escort cut in front of them and stopped. Callender stopped the Rolls, thinking it was the action of a typically rude London driver. It did not occur to him to back up and escape. Ian Ball stepped out of the Escort and began walking toward the Rolls. His intention was to kidnap the princess. He carried two pistols and a note, demanding free pardon for the kidnapping and a ransom demand of three million pounds. Although Beaton didn't see the weapon Ball was holding, he instinctively darted out of the Rolls and went around the back of the car to take up a protective position at the door of the princess. As soon as he rounded the car, Ball shot him in the chest. Beaton ducked behind the car and drew his .380 Walther PPK, but the auto loader malfunctioned and, in his weakened state, he couldn't clear it. Ball opened the door and grabbed the princess by one arm, Phillips grabbed the other, and they had a tug-of-war, while the princess calmly told Ball to "go away!" Ball lost his grip and the door slammed shut. Beaton then emerged, scrambled into the car, and barred the door. Ball placed the barrel of the gun against the limo's window and threatened to shoot again. Determined to protect the princess at all cost, Beaton placed his right hand against the glass as Ball pulled the trigger. The round penetrated his hand just below the thumb, but failed to wound the princess. Ball then turned the gun on the chauffeur, shooting Callender in the chest as he opened his door. Beaton, already shot twice, leapt from the car, trying to tackle Ball, and was shot again, this time in the stomach. He

collapsed to the pavement. Ball tried again to drag the princess out of the Rolls, but she continued to resist. Help then arrived and Ball was tackled by Detective Constable Peter Edwards, ending the nightmarish attack. Inspector Jim Beaton certainly embraced the way of the bodyguard. His courage under fire, stubbornly refusing to quit his protective duties until he had suffered a third, near fatal wound, is something that cannot be taught at any bodyguard school. The value of this trait did not escape the royal family. In 1982, he was appointed as the queen's personal protection officer. Oddly enough, in May 1986, Princess Anne stated that "if someone decides it is worth his while either kidnapping or just killing you, I don't think there is anything constructive either we or anyone else can do about it." Her inane observation makes one wonder if she remembers the heroic actions of those who saved her life twelve years before. Taking a bullet intended for her -- putting his life at risk to save her's -- and then to say that nothing "constructive" can be done are the narcissistic mutterings of a misguided mentality. In protective operations, preparation is the name of the game, but the Way of the Bodyguard has to come from within. It's not the same as a death wish. World-class protective specialists realize and accept the risk, but fight to stay alive, because a dead bodyguard is of little use to his protectee. They have a commitment to survival. Both the protectees and their own. "Untutored courage [is] useless in the face of educated bullets," declared General George Patton. "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." ORDER Dodging Bullets HERE: http://www.iptm.org/webstore/p-63-dodging-bullets-a-strategic-guide-t o-world-class-protection.aspx REVIEWS: The two most profoundly important books in any High-Risk Protection Specialists research/education library would have to be DODGING BULLETS by Tom Taylor and JUST 2 SECONDS by Gavin de Becker, Tom Taylor, and Jeff Marquart. - International Close Quarters Protection Operators Association This book reflects a deep and broad-based knowledge of the subject. It is highly recommended. - Security Management Magazine