Along with the addition of two new exciting programs for 2012, we are also announcing the return of two popular courses that haven’t been offered for open enrollment in the last few years. The Extreme Close Quarters Tactics (ECQT) and Introduction to Executive Protection (IEP) courses are both on the I.C.E. Training Schedule for the new year.

Both of these courses have been extremely popular and in high demand in the past. In fact, the Rob Pincus’ ground breaking Extreme Close Quarters Tactics program was the centerpiece of the five day Close Quarters Counter Ambush Package that was attended by hundreds of special operations soldiers, sailors, airmen and officers from 2005-2009. This was also the course that the information accompanying Rob’s recent appearance on the cover of Black Belt Magazine was drawn from. Some of the things that will be discussed in this course can be seen in a video clip at BBM’s Website. In 2001, Rob Pincus and Lt. Gary Meares (ret.) teamed up to run some of the most intense close quarters SWAT Training ever conducted… those sessions, run at Camp Blanding in Florida, lead to the development of the curriculum that would become known as the Extreme Close Quarters Tactics course. That course, run during the era of the Valhalla Training Center, was one of the most talked about courses of the mid part of the last decade and was featured in several magazines, including Tactical Response (by Kevin Davis) and S.W.A.T.  (by Brent Wheat) . It was programs like ECQT that lead the Rand Corporation to identify VTC as the most progressive close quarters training center available in the private sector in a 400+ page white paper. Rob himself wrote about the program and its development in an article about High Gear™ Impact Reduction Suits in 2006.

“ I am very excited about teaching this program again,” says Pincus, “it has always been my favorite course to teach. From the early days in Florida, to the honor of regularly running it at Valhalla for US Special Forces to getting to teach it inside of facilities that few ever get to enter for some of the guys at the tip of our sharpest spears. Putting it back on the schedule for open enrollment is awesome!”

While the course has not been offered to the public since 2007, it has been run for law enforcement and military personnel. Also, Pincus has picked up a few important additions to the class along the way: “I know more about the topic than I did last decade. I’ve spent a lot more time with appendix carry of firearms and it is much more popular than it was back then… that alone opens up whole new sections of the class for the private sector,” he says, “ and I’ve always learned a few things from Craig Douglas of Shivworks, whose Extreme Close Quarters Concepts course I really respect, since the last time I taught the material as well.”

The return of ECQT has been eagerly anticipated by many who have trained with Rob in the private sector over the last five years and not had an opportunity to participate in it… including many of the current generation of active CFS Instructors. If you get into one of the courses, of which there will be a very limited number, you can expect to be training with some of them! Visit the I.C.E. Training website for more information.

Rob’s Introduction to Executive Protection course will also be back on the schedule for 2012. This course is specifically designed to familiarize the student with the day to day mission and skills of the typical one man low-to-medium threat low-profile Executive Protection assignment. This often neglected job at traditional “bodyguard” schools or in the modern “high risk” type security courses is also the single most common professional protection job regularly available to those interested in the field. Few private sector clients have the budgets for diamond formations and elaborate advances of destinations. Much more often, the Executive Protection Agent is tasked with being the driver, advance man, primary protective agent, nanny, personal assistant and concierge all at the same time. Often, it is difficult to keep your focus on security while trying to fit into the world of your client and maintain day-to-day value when the client isn’t actually being attacked by a stalker or assaulted by criminal.
This intense three day course addresses threat assessments, hasty advances, maximizing local resources, fundamentals of security driving and the incredibly important aspect of Client Management that lead to a successful relationship and long lasting job… both of which ensure that you will actually be where you need to be in the event of the Worst Case Scenario, an actual attack on the client.

 The course also spends time on the live fire range addressing Executive Protection Tactics and there is a section on low-profile combatives and control for use when you need to deal with a threat (or potential threat) without making a scene. Lastly, the course ends with a simulated client escort through a typical afternoon for a busy business person or celebrity which drives home the reality of the complex sets of tasks the low profile EP Agent often needs to deal with. Learn more about the course and see scheduled dates at the I.C.E. Website! This course is perfect for those making the transition from public sector protective services into the private sector (or those wanting to!).

As the team of Certified Combat Focus™ Shooting Instructors becomes more active and teaches more courses, expect to see more specialized and advanced courses from I.C.E. Training, lead by Rob Pincus and his staff instructors!

Over the years, I've still hardly ever said "no" to a chance to train, but at least I have gotten to a point (after a decade!) where I am better able to plan out my training schedule in a way that makes more logistical sense.... which brings me to the 2011 Spring Training Cross Country Tour:

PA, NH, VA, OH, TN, AR, MO, OK, SD, IA, WA, OR  .... an almost constant Westward Motion over the course of about two months!

And then I make my way (mostly) back east with courses in Colorado, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

I am really looking forward to this next few months... and we are already setting up the Spring 2012 schedule to follow a similar course. If I don't see you in a course this spring, maybe next year!

-RJP