Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection

You’re only as good as your last mission

Jim Wagner

The headline is an expression I learned when I was a team member of the Costa Mesa Police Department S.W.A.T. team back in the 1990s. Which, of course, is a true expression with profound meaning. One can brag all they want about how good they are tactically, but your last mission determines your level of professionalism. If you screwed up, you’ve got to train more and be better. If the last mission went well you’ve got to keep it up, and at the same time not let the success go to your head. Last night I was tested, once again, and I am happy to report that my mission was successful. The mission that I am referring to is executive protection (bodyguard work) for one of President Donald Trump’s advisors, Tony Perkins, political commentator and national best-selling author, Ben Shapiro, and award winning entertainer John Tesh at the Annual Friends of FRC Banquet on March 27, 2018 held at the Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa, California. Yes, the same city I was a Costa Mesa police officer in for 10 years.

Since Tony Perkins and Ben Shapiro are very controversial public figures, due their conservative views and values, there was the possibility of trouble Therefore, I was part of six-man executive protect detail, in addition to a second EP detail that we worked closely with. Indirectly we also provided security for California Governor candidate John Cox who was attending the event. Now, before some of you liberals get all worked up accusing me of “only protect right-leaning personalities,” keep in mind that I was a Team Leader on a military police security detail several years ago to protect Governor Jerry Brown at a public event, and also a Team Leader to protect President Barak Obama’s Marine One helicopter working closely with the Presidential Helicopter Squadron HMX-1 Security Company. Both of these men are way to the left when it comes to American politics. So, I can safely say that I’ve protected the left and the right, and everything in between. Regardless of who I protect, once I have accepted the mission I am always willing to be a “bullet catcher,” meaning that I will take a bullet for the principal; the person that I am protecting.

Tony Perkins is in his 15^th years as President of Family Research Council. He is the host of the daily, nationally syndicated radio show Washington Watch with Tony Perkins. Tony is the author of two books No Fear and Personal Faith, Public Policy. What I really like about him, besides being an excellent speaker, is that he is a former police officer and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, HOOAH!

Ben Shapiro entered the University of California Los Angeles at the age of 16 and graduated Harvard Law School in June 2007. By 17-years-old he was the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in America. He is a political commentator on several television news programs, and is a frequent speaker on college campuses throughout the United States. He is a best-selling author, and he even gave me, and everyone on the team, a signed copy of his latest book BULLIES: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America.

John Tesh is best known for his 10-year run as a television anchor on Entertainment Tonight. Before that he was an investigative journalist for the CBS TV Network. John is an entertainer who has been awarded with six Emmys, has three gold records, and two Grammy nominations. Currently he hosts the Intelligence For Your Life radio broadcast heard across America six days a week.

The mission was a success because there were no incidents. As my old captain of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Dignitary Protection Unit used to say to us deputies, “If you have to protect your principal you have already failed.” In other words, with advance planning and keen situational awareness, there should be no reason for you to protect your principal. Having to protect a principal means you did not adequately prepare or get the principal out of harm’s way before it struck.

So, now I must prepare for the next mission, which is coming up in only a few short days, but like any good tactical operator, I’ll only speak about it after the mission is over.

If your organization is looking for bodyguard training (be it a police agency, military unit, private security, or church security) I offer various programs. Email me at info@jimwagnerrealitybased.com

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Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection

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