Patrick McNamara - Sentinel: Become the Agent in Charge of Your Own Protection Detail

SENTINEL

Become the Agent in Charge of Your Own Protection Detail

PATRICK MCNAMARA

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

SENTINEL

Become the Agent in Charge of Your Own Protection Detail

Copyright 2012 by Patrick McNamara.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

You should not undertake any diet/exercise regimen recommended in this book before consulting your personal physician. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be responsible or liable for any loss or damage allegedly arising as a consequence of your use or application of any information or suggestions contained in this book.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6049-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6050-1 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012921694

iUniverse rev. date: 11/27/2012

Contents

As defined by Dictionary.com:

Sentinel sentinel

1. a person or thing that watches or stands as if watching.

2. a soldier stationed as a guard to challenge all comers and prevent a surprise attack: to stand sentinel.

3. Also called tag. Computers . a symbol, mark, or other labeling device indicating the beginning or end of a unit of information.

verb (used with object)

4. to watch over or guard as a sentinel.

Origin: 1570-80; < MF sentinelle < It sentinella, deriv. of OIt sentina vigilance (L sent ( re ) to observe) +- na - ine2 )

We may not be able to plan for everything that is uncertain in life, but we are capable of increasing our levels of awareness and preparedness. Economic collapse, storms of biblical proportions, and zombie attacks are not as likely as unfortunate events that happen in our day-to-day existence. There are simple steps we may take to assist us in being better prepared for power blackouts, home invasion, and attacks on the street from random dirtbags.

We should enjoy relative peace of mind knowing that we have planned for uncertainty, and we should rest easier at the top of the food chain. It is said that information is power. It may also be powerful and able to arm us with increased levels of lethality and survivability.

At the very least, increasing the scope of our capabilities database is a battlefield multiplier on the front lines of life.

Take Back
Your Sentinel Authority

Anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Its called Murphys Law. That being said, wouldnt you rather know that you had done everything in your power to have prepared yourself for that Murphys Moment? None of us plan to fail. We may, however, fail to plan.

I served in the military for twenty-two years, and in that time never left the special operations community. Ive been battered, broken, and bruised but have also enjoyed the sweet taste of success as I toiled through some of the militarys toughest training. I descended from skyscrapers and ran through breach points consumed by fire. I jumped from aircraft at heights where the curvature of the earth was visible. I have flown into hostile territory on the outside of rotary-winged aircraft. I have tangled with some of the planets biggest and most notorious villains. I set up spy networks in Eastern Europe during the Cold War and spied on the Soviet Army when spying was face-to-face, not in cyberspace. I had to discern, discriminate, formulate, and act in nanoseconds.

There was a time when I was human with immortal qualities. I was a creature of the night and a harvester of souls. I was one of our countrys agents of correction. I oozed attitude and fortitude. I have protected generals, dignitaries, heads of state, and royalty.

Fast-forward to today where I have a less-than-arduous task list: I must assist in a school field trip. I am packing lunches with PB & Js, juice boxes, and fruit roll-ups. Mmmm... fruit roll-ups. At times I feel as though someone stepped on my Man-Card.

I have a new mission now, thats all, and it includes PB & Js and PTAs. It is a mission of self-preservation and force-preservation. The force, in this case, is my family. I must embrace this new mission, as it is my duty as a human being and duty as a rational human. I must count on myself to protect myself and my family. This mission was not assigned to me, but rather it is a God-given duty. I have the tools necessary to accomplish this mission within me. I must access my data banks primal side. I am a human being and was born with natural defense mechanisms. I must give my mind permission to allow these mechanisms to work automatically.

We humans and our descendants have been on this planet for a couple million years. We are not hunting mammoths or dodging saber-toothed tigers anymore, but dangers still lurk in the shadows. We must safeguard ourselves and our families. Self-preservation must be front and center. If we are the head of a family, priorities shift, but we must preserve the self in order to preserve the force.

I am the agent in charge of my own protective detail. The AIC . I am the protector and the protectee . I have a wife and children. It is my responsibility to protect them. I am not a bodyguard. I am my familys Batman. I am the shepherd of my flock.

I am a Sentinel.

The group of professionals assigned to a protectee, or principal , is called a protection detail . The term executive protection was coined in the 1970s by the United States Secret Service when they created the Executive Protection Service to guard visiting foreign dignitaries.

The protection of an individual is comprehensive and goes well beyond surrounding the individual with well-armed agents. As part of an executive protection detail s mission of preventing an incident before it occurs, the detail relies on meticulous advance work and threat assessments developed by its Intelligence Division to identify potential risks to principals.

So let us discuss, in a nutshell, how a protection detail is put together and how it operates.

First off, the difference between a bodyguard and a protection professional is that a bodyguard is a goon in a suit and specializes in knuckle dragging. A protection professional typically works on an executive protection detail and is better prepared to process information in the environment, identify threats before they materialize, and then formulate a variety of courses of action.

An executive protection detail is a complex machine requiring several necessary moving components. There are motorcade operations, including a lead car in front and a follow car in back of the dignitarys limo; advance operations; inner and outer circles; a chain of command that includes an agent in charge (AIC) and a shift leader (SL), pre-posted and counter-surveillance agents; and the list goes on.