Excerpt: Conducting a Protective Security Advance

Advance Teams protect employees visiting a potentially dangerous area. This book excerpt looks at some key considerations for getting the job done.

November 29, 2009 — CSO —

Executives headed into an unknown area or known danger zone? Send in the Advance Team - security professionals assigned to clear the way and prevent attacks during the visit. In this book excerpt, David L. Johnson provides basic advice from his book Advance: The Guide for Conducting a Protective Security Advance (available directly from the publisher, Varro Press). This selection comes from the book's "General Considerations" chapter.

Advance Personnel Will Precede The Principal To All Locations

This general rule of thumb means that the advance agent or team will, on an as-needed basis, precede the principal to all locations on the itinerary. Whether the principal is going to the office in the morning or on a multi-nation tour, advance personnel are responsible for preceding him, making all necessary arrangements, and establishing all required security cordons. Obviously, there is a great deal of difference between the work you do as an advance agent while taking the principal to the office and your work escorting him on a multi-nation tour.

Other recent physical security book excerpts on CSOonline.com:

-- Managing Security Overseas: Contact and Coordination with Local, Regional, and International Authorities
-- What Should Your Security Strategies Be?


Generally, advance agents should visit every site on the itinerary at least two times. The first time will be to conduct a site survey, determine the conditions in which you will be working, and to formulate plans to be used during the principal's visit. The second time you visit the site will be to set up the security cordons you planned during the site survey, and execute any other required security tasks. The advance team will remain onsite for the duration of the principal's visit and will usually continue to maintain the security capability until you are released by the Detail Leader (DL), the "drop dead" time, or other predetermined conditions have been met. Later, we will discuss these conditions and explain how to determine the "drop dead" time.

Advance Agents Will Conduct All Security Coordination And Liaison

Advance agents are responsible for contacting all pertinent "Points of ­Contact" (POCs) identified in the itinerary or by the principal's staff in order to personally conduct all of the required security coordination or liaison with the hosting agency or staff. These POCs may include various law enforcement, intelligence, or civilian security agencies that either have involvement in the security function or may provide you with valuable information pertaining to that specific itinerary site. In addition, the advance agents will conduct liaison with the host, event staff, or other POCs who will have responsibility for ­dealing with the principal at that location. Contact with these people is made in order to gather all available information pertaining to the visit. The specific information you will need to gather during your advance visits will be explained in detail in later sections.

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