- Reinforcing your team members Individual skills like basic rifle marksmanship is an essential duty for all effective Team leaders
Team Leaders – Are your guy’s amateurs or professionals? The devil is in the details of your potential performance to meet your mission goals.
Operators – Do you know what’s expected of you? Do the other members of your team take the job seriously?
Team performance is a serious matter and performance is directly related to the individual capabilities of each member on your team. As a Team Leader (TL), you will want to be in a constant mode of assessing the individual skills of the men that populate your team.
If you are not taking stock in individual performances and you let your team be mired in complacency, then you can expect your battle space performance as a whole to reflect the same poor outlook.
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- It could be worse – Captain America could be your Team Leader
Contracting attracts all types: The former action guys, the recently retired soldier trying to get ahead, the adventure seekers, and the cops looking for more than just walking the same beat every day.
Eventually, these folks get in the door, find a contract, and are let loose on the operational theater to perform missions. Often times, they become Team Leaders and fulfill a critical role in a PMC’s staffing count. Let’s examine some of the ‘Leaders’ that fall a bit short and educate ourselves on what to watch out for.
We have all had bad Team Leaders (TLs) and the list of their personal faults could fill a 500gig hard drive and beg for more space.
Contracting seems to draw the breed out into the open and remain on display for far too long. You know the type – the ass buddy of the Ops Manager or the new member of the click’. Hell, refer to the contractor article on douche bags and take your pick.
No matter their personal shortcomings, there are a few sins that can lead to you or your team’s demise if they aren’t rectified. If you see this behavior developing in your buddies, advise them.
Click Here to Read The Deadly Sins of a Contract Team Leader >>>
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- The Author with his trusty AK wile on security operations in Iraq
Read Part 2 Here >>>
If you are a contractor, it won’t be long until you have in your hands one of the most infamous rifles ever to spring forth from the dark recesses of human ingenuity. THE AK-47.
When it comes to assault rifles, there are few competitors with a more basic design. The AK and its modernized form the AKM are bound to be pointed in your direction sooner or later if you’re working the Red Zone.
It’s best to get acquainted with this system early on, and master its manual of arms. You WILL be seeing a lot of this rifle when wandering the contract circuit or 3rd world. This rifle and its millions of unlicensed reproductions litter most of the battlefields around the globe.
You know the story, you’ve seen it in the hands of every photo op of a bad guy with a flag being waved in the air, or in the hands of some jungle bound insurgent waiting to snatch the life from the unwary, and now it resides in the armories of every private military company as well.
Now, you’ll notice a curious difference between AKs fielded by contractors and those being run in stock form by crazy militants, dedicated insurgents, and Chechen vest bombers. A Contractor’s AK will invariably have modifications courtesy of any number of aftermarket accessory companies that are intended to enhance not only the cool factor but utility of the rifle.
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- Local national (LN) security team members supervised by the author in Iraq
EDITORS NOTE: Even if you are not a security contractor the team management tips below will translate into any job where you supervise people.
If you are contracting, invariably you will be assigned as a Team Leader (TL) sooner or later. Back in the day, this meant having to supervise and lead other Westerners in the accomplishment of your assigned duties and missions, For the most part, being a TL was just being a glorified baby-sitter for folks who already had the skill sets and discipline to carry out the mission.
However, today’s game has changed. A TL on a contract team will now be earning his pay leading a mix of Third Country Nationals (TCNs) and Local Nationals (LNs) from the Country they are occupying or assisting. It’s rare to see a team constituted of 100% First Country Nationals from developed States.
I have been in this game for a while and have amassed a few basic tips to help out other TLs who are just entering the contract arena or want an amusing review to pass the time.
Click Here to Read 5 Tips For Security Contractor Team Leaders >>>
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- Author and his FN FAL wile on operations in the red zone
There is no golden conex full of high speed low drag toys for most contractors working the mean streets of Baghdad or taking on the Mountain Apes in the crags of some Hindu Kush type shithole, but there are gems out there if you look hard enough. The FN FAL is just such a gem given you are lucky enough to score one in your AO.
The FAL has been around for a while and is a true Battle Rifle chambered in 7.62x51MM that has a real fight stopper reputation in a .30 Cal package not some assault rifle cartridge or new wave round that is touted as the next big ‘man-killer.’
The 7.62x51MM fielded by the FN FAL is a tested cartridge also found linked in 200 roundbelts next to the popular M240G machine gun or in the internal magazines of many a sniper rifle. The FN FAL is an old school rifle and round that fills a serious niche in combat arms.
The FAL I use in my professional endeavors was a captured weapon recovered from the hands of Saddam’s old regime and is a platform with some new twists and turns mounted on it to update its utility.
Click Here to Read More About The FAL Setup I Use Wile Running The Red Zone >>>
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- The Civilian Contractor Red Zone Bug Out Bag – Wire Stock AK and balls not Included
Sometimes your Bug Out Bag takes a different direction and morphs into something between a go-bag, an active shooter bag, and a Bug Out Bag (BOB) due to your chosen occupation. Enter the Civilian Contractor Red Zone BOB; this is a heavy-weight’s version of a crisis management bag for places where encounters with ‘Bad Guys’ is a real possibility.
For Red Zone adventures, this is what I cobbled together to manage problems when SHTF on a de-buss or ambush gone real wrong. It’s a problem solving bag.
The plan is to grab this bag, have an assortment of needed items to fight through a problem available in it, support my team, and assist me in getting to a safe haven as well. That’s a lot for one bag, but it’s what I am shooting for with my ‘Red Zone Bug Out Bag.
In the Red Zone, you are often outside the reach of immediate support, so, it’s up to you to plan accordingly. Your ‘bag’ might not even be a bag at all. It might be the size of a 3 day pack and not even resemble my set-up.
It’s all about defining the threat environment you operate in, the problems you will most likely face, and sorting out the tools that are the best fit for you and your mission, as well as what you can reasonably expect to carry. That’s what goes in this bag.
So, let’s break it down…
Click Here To Find Out What You Should Keep In You Red Zone Bug Out Bag >>>
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- The SureFire L2 LUMAMAX, SureFire G2Z COMBATLIGHT, SureFire Helmet Light H1-A-TN
I am still amazed at just how many contractors I run into that don’t carry a serious light on them as a matter of practice. It’s just plain stupid to roll without a serious flashlight in your pocket, on your belt, or stowed somewhere in your gear in a handy spot.
I carry three different light sources on me, and have on many occasions had them all in use because I had to lend one to a teammate to make up for their lack of proper planning. And redundancy is a requirement for any Team leader.
If your contract team consists of local nationals from any given dirt-water country, you better have more than one available. I guarantee they won’t have one even if it was issued to them. They tend to ‘lose’ (read sell for a profit) items of value often.
Plan ahead and ALWAYS be redundant with your white light tools. You can’t go wrong doubling up on white light sources in the Red Zone.
Click Here to Read my 3 Light Choices for Running In The Red Zone and Find Out Why I Only Use Surefire Brand Lights >>>
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- No need for crying here – just move on
How often do things ever go PERFECTLY in a venture? Rare, if ever, right?
Do you know we can learn from f-ing up? We can learn A TON
The chaos, friction, and the most assured probability of mistakes being made in the Red Zone is a tremendous learning opportunity if you survive it.
Your first order of business is to always fight through whatever gaffe takes place. This is not as easy as it sounds on paper. Seemingly simple matters tend to become wildly complex in the field.
Too many contractors and adventurists tend to dwell on the mistake in front of them and lose the immediacy demanded in combat or crisis to recover in swift fashion. They dwell on the ‘oh shit’ moment too long giving a decided advantage to their adversaries. This negative distraction and self talk invites disaster.
Click Here to Continue Reading SURVIVAL MINDSET Dealing With F-UPS >>>
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- MAXPEDITION COLOSSUS
I needed a new bag like I need a hole in the head, but I was sifting through all my crap carriers and became dissatisfied with the fact that I really had nothing less than a backpack or messenger bag to carry my net-book in.
I wanted a strap hanger that didn’t make me look like I was toting a computer in a breifcase and could double pull double duty and haul other possibles I’d need on a mission in the red zone or to a Starbucks when on leave.
I found my match. The Maxpedition Colossus!
This sling bag fills a unique niche for me and supports me as an everyday carry bag. However, some might call it my ‘Man Purse’ just before I knock them on their can. What the hell do they know. Lots of cool dudes carry crap in a bag – think Jack Bauer since McGuyver never needed anything past the lint in his pockets and a pair of underwear to manage life’s problems.
Click Here to Read the MAXPEDITION COLOSSUS Tech Specifications >>>
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- Understand Risk VS Gamble or You May Draw This Hand
If you carry a gun for a profession, then you’ve entered the world of risk management at the deep end. Traveling the semi/non-permissive zones of the world is what I share in common with Contractors, Soldiers, Jihadists, militiamen, criminals, and terrorists alike. The thing I’ve noticed is that some do a better job at managing risks than others.
Traveling the Red Zone offers a unique opportunity to examine, define, and truly get to know what risk is made of. A good starting point to gain a better understanding of risk and what it takes to manage it is to peer out into the space you occupy right now. You might be at home, in your car, or preparing to mount a mission in some shit-stain Country that the State Department warns you against ‘visiting.’
The point is this, you occupy space, are a human being that requires air rushing in and out and blood going round and round, and it’s a fact that you need to employ your brain to keep your other body parts intact. Hence, the everyday intrinsic need to the manage risks your environment, lifestyle, and job engender.
Read How To Manage a Risk VS Gamble Situation >>>
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