Mike BENISH, ITG 5

Mike Benish is arguably the most highly qualified student we have ever had the pleasure of welcoming to the open enrollment courses taught by the International Training Group (ITG). In the Summer of 2005 when Mike came through ITG Class 5 and attended the full 21-Day Executive Protection Program, he was already a highly sought after private contractor with a great deal of “real world” experience under his belt. That has only become more true since. His resume reads like a “who’s who” of Private Security Companies (PSC) conducting operations and training in High Risk Environments (HRE). From that perspective, his comments about ITG’s instructor staff are pertinent.

“To keep this in perspective, I have also taught for several other companies that are well known in the security industry. That being said, the instructors at ITG are some of the best that I have been associated with in the fifteen or more years that I have been instructing. I have personally worked with most of the ITG instructors in various High Threat Environments such as Haiti, Iraq, and Afghanistan. These instructors not only can teach what they know, but they have the real world, practical and operational experience to support any subject matter that is presented in the ITG Executive Protection Course.”

Prior to becoming a contractor, Mike served for more than 20 years in the United States Army, with ten of those years spent as a Special Forces Engineer. In addition to significant time stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he also spent several years assigned to Fort Davis, Panama. In fact, Mike spent so much time in Central and South America that he is completely fluent in Spanish. As his career developed, he served on more than 40 humanitarian missions as well as instructing many of his fellow Special Forces Soldiers in numerous aspects of their duties. Based on that military experience, Mike’s comparison of ITG’s training to the best training the U.S. Army offers is very strong.

“The course is organized in such a way that the student is exposed to a method of instruction that rivals the best the U.S. Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center has to offer. This course exemplifies the same basic principles that I have been taught, both as a student and when conducting training. It is a) Easy to Teach, b) Easy to Learn, c) Done Quickly, and above all, d) Done Right.”

After retiring from the Army in late 1997, Mike began his travels and travails in the world of PSCs:

Two years in Angola as Project Manager / Instructor for security at a large energy sector facility.
Two years in Colombia as a Security Risk Management Consultant for one of the largest international risk consultancies in the world.
Two years in Haiti as a Senior Instructor for the team contracted to “assist, mentor, and train” all three elements of the Haitian Secret Service.
Two years, (one in Afghanistan and another in Iraq) as the Project Manager for a company operating multi-layered security projects including Protective Services Details (PSD), Security Guard Forces, Consulting, and Training.
Two years bouncing back and forth between the US and Colombia as a Senior Instructor preparing both US contractors and third country nationals (TCN) for dangerous service in Iraq.
Two years for the largest Iraqi security provider serving as their Project Manager for projects in Mosul and Basra, both of which have had large training components.

From this wealth of private sector training experience, Mike formed this opinion: “There were several subjects that I considered outstanding during the course. The block of instruction on Protective Advances was excellent. I definitely came away with more tools in the tool box on how to conduct a proper advance. The driving portion of the course is also excellent. EVOC training, motorcade operations, and the evasive driving and ramming portions of the course were either better than or on par with the other driving courses I have attended. We destroyed 7 vehicles!”

Most telling, coming from someone with Mike’s extensive background, was this. “The weapons training is conducted extremely well and in my opinion better than other organizations that I have been associated with. The quality of the weapons surprised me. ITG is one of the very few that use Colt M-4s and Glock 19s during their weapons training. Students are also allowed to bring their personally owned weapons to the course if they prefer. ITG conducts courses of fire that will not be found anywhere else that I am aware of, unless I am conducting the training. All the courses of fire are very practical for the EP / DP / PSD agent.”

Other subjects that Mike felt worthy of mention were: “The final EP practical exercise with its various scenarios was outstanding. The way it was managed definitely added a new meaning to the phrase “the truth changes.”

“The Surveillance Detection Course was another subject that I found to be extremely beneficial, not so much because of what I learned during the training, but rather how the training was conducted. ITG first teaches you how to conduct surveillance and conducts an outstanding practical exercise. This then dove tails into the teaching on Surveillance Detection and its own practical exercise. The ITG instructors have this one down well.”

As our faithful readers are painfully aware, we at ITG are constantly harping on differentiators between ourselves and our competitors. Mike did that for us when he stated, “One block of instruction that sets ITG above the rest is the EP Etiquette portion of the course. The emphasis on EP personnel maintaining a mature attitude, protective service mindset, appropriate appearance, and above all professional distance from their principals can only set EP personnel up for success.”

In discussing his ITG experience, Mike makes it very clear that one does not have to be an experienced security operator to learn and derive significant benefits from the ITG training courses. In fact, quite the opposite is true. The less experience and expertise one might have in providing Protective Services, the more they have to gain by attending ITG.

“The course is organized in a way that each subject supports or ‘dove tails’ into the next subject. The overall course objective is to prepare every student to conduct world class protective operations. This includes everything from protecting a single executive in a Low Threat Environment, to operating PSD in High Risk Environments, or protecting a Head of State. As the course progressed, this building block approach was very evident. Also, this course has very little class room instruction and focuses on the practical application of the subjects taught. This shortens the students’ learning curve, increases their ability to retain the subjects being taught, and prepares them to put their knowledge to use in the real world.”

He goes on to say that, “ITG creates an outstanding learning environment that minimizes learning distractions and emphasizes student participation from everyone. The instructors are very approachable and friendly. They also encourage students to relate any previous operational experiences that they may have been exposed to.”

Being the modest professional he is, Mike downplays his considerable success in this sector of the security industry and gives much of the credit to those whom he was worked with. But, when perusing the list of projects above, one instantly sees that Mike has been very loyal to those he has worked for. In a time when many private contractors’ resumes show only three to six months working for any one employer or on any one project, it speaks well of Mike and the level of performance he has consistently shown that he has been with employers for what amounts to an eternity in the PSC world of HRE operations and training. He closed his After-Action Review of our training this way.

“The ITG EP course is extremely well organized. The material is always reviewed and updated to reflect the latest Tactics, Techniques and Procedures. It is my personal opinion that ITG could run a separate course just on how to develop, implement, and conduct a comprehensive training program and market this as another business opportunity.”

Alumni of our training programs should continue to watch these pages for future information on just such a course.