HCCI Professional Protective Services

Back in Israel - Day 22

Yesterday was not a training day, but a reflective one.

It was a day of closing some loops and helping a friend who lives here in Israel and is connected to one of the communities we serve back home. They also helped me when I first arrived on this trip, so it was good to spend some time together.

I also took some time to find a few kippahs to bring home for a friend who recently welcomed a grandson into the world.

I got a haircut, trimmed my beard, and spent much of the day reflecting on a question that has followed me throughout this entire journey.

How do we put this to work in the United States?

How do we reach more communities and get people to take action before the crisis, before the shooting, before the bombing, before the escalation of danger that we continue to see rising around us?

Peaceful times have created complacent people who operate under the false assumption that these threats will never affect them.

Yet history is filled with thousands upon thousands of examples of people who once believed the exact same thing, until they became the victim.

So the question becomes, what is stopping people from choosing to become proactive?

What is stopping people from becoming trained?

What is stopping people from seeking real security solutions instead of assuming someone else will handle it?

Over the last two weeks, I watched fourteen other Jewish people, ranging from their early twenties into their sixties, choose to step up. They chose to train. They chose to become advocates and voices for their communities back home so they can help prepare them before something happens.

I have been serving the Jewish community for nearly a decade, waiting and hoping to see more people take ownership of that responsibility.

My heart is overjoyed to watch these men and women work so hard and commit themselves to protecting their communities.

Later in the evening, I met with one of the counterterrorism commanders I know here. We spent time with his family, talked about the goal of building stronger people and stronger communities, and discussed what comes next.

As I closed out the day, I found myself asking the same questions again.

How do we put this to work?
How do we make a larger difference?
How do we get more people involved?

If you have ideas, I would genuinely love to hear them.
Because our chance is now.
Before anything happens.
Before the cost of assumed safety and comfort comes due.

Back in Israel - Day 19

Yesterday was Shabbat, and we spent it in the West Bank at a leadership academy. From where we were, we could see Jordan in the distance.

These last two weeks have been incredibly physically demanding and stressful, and it was nice to finally slow down and rest. I could feel my body shifting. I slept in and ended up taking three different naps before around 3:30 PM.

When you have been under stress for a long period of time, the body recognizes when it is finally safe to relax. When that moment comes, it releases everything it has been holding back.

I think that is an important lesson to share.

When you are in the middle of a threat, an active shooter, an emergency, or the aftermath of a crisis, your body operates differently. It keeps you moving. It keeps you functioning. It pushes you forward because it has a job to do.

But once the situation is over, once the danger has passed and your mind begins to understand that you survived, the body shifts out of overdrive. The adrenaline fades. The exhaustion arrives. The fatigue catches up.

That is often the price we pay as protectors.

Later in the day and into the evening, we took a Land Cruiser deep into the desert. Along the way, I got to see a beautiful monastery dating back to around 600 AD. We also spent time discussing the history of Jordan, the region, and the realities that Israel faces today.

As a protector, a leader, a mentor, and a business owner, it is critical that we take time to recover and recharge. That is one of the lessons behind Shabbat.

If we are operating at full speed all the time, eventually fatigue will catch us whether we want it to or not.

Yesterday I felt that firsthand.

Last night we turned in early because today would be one of the biggest tests of the trip. We had to be up before 6:00 AM and leave for a two-hour drive to what is considered one of the premier security training facilities in Israel. It is the only facility capable of delivering the full spectrum of security certifications in Israel, and the owner himself would be evaluating us.

Today our Krav Maga skills, weapons handling, decision-making, and security training will all be put to the test through stress-induced scenarios.

Sunday will conclude our testing.

At the end, participants will either earn a certificate from Israel showing they successfully passed the program, or a certificate showing they participated but did not meet the standard.

It is a critical day.

Two weeks of training, lessons, challenges, relationships, and preparation all lead to this moment.

Now we find out if what we learned is truly there when the pressure is on.

Back in Israel - Day 17

Two things are certain in life: we will all die, and "Malfunction 3 - out of bullets." - Ravid

I am behind on posting. It has been busy. I am exhausted and tired.

Thursday was a harder day. The body is tired, the mind is worn out, and thankfully the instructors gave us an evening to rest before testing began on Friday.

We had our final Krav Maga class. I helped prepare breakfast for the team, and then we began live-fire and simulated weapons drills. Our hands are raw from the constant draw, rack, and shoot techniques. We are practicing these skills under stress, given different scenarios, and constantly assessing threats from new locations.

One lesson that stood out is that you have to look before you engage a potential threat because what you perceive as a threat may not actually be one. If we simply draw and make ready without properly assessing the situation, we may create a problem where none existed.

We also learned how professional aggression, confidence, and intention can help de-escalate a situation or cause an attacker to stop because of the intensity and presence we project from the very beginning.

A prepared and confident response can often influence a situation before it ever becomes a physical confrontation.

Later in the evening, we finally got some time to rest because testing began on Friday and we would be traveling south for Shabbat.

I went to a store, bought some steaks and a disposable grill, and spent the evening cooking with new friends. It was a good way to slow down, enjoy some fellowship, and recharge before putting two weeks of lessons, training, and preparation to the test.

Now the real question is whether we have learned the lessons well enough to apply them when it matters.

One thing I have appreciated throughout this journey is meeting people from different backgrounds who share the same commitment to protecting innocent life. This week while training at thos security school, we met a Muslim IDF soldier who spoke openly about his desire to protect his community, his country, and the people around him. It was a reminder that many people reject extremism and violence and instead choose service, responsibility, and courage. That mission transcends religion, ethnicity, and background. Good people standing up to protect innocent people will always have more in common with each other than they do with those who seek to spread fear and violence.

Back in Israel - Day 15

Tuesday was another intense day of training, and one of the biggest lessons had very little to do with weapons.

We spent part of the day learning how to better understand a person's intent, mindset, and purpose. One of the concepts we discussed is that we are not interrogators. We are looking for anomalies.

Threats rarely walk into an environment announcing who they are. They do research. They learn enough about a community, organization, or event to appear familiar. Their goal is often to blend in long before they act.

Because of that, we learned the importance of asking open-ended questions to understand familiarity and purpose. Questions like where are you coming from, what brings you here, do you know anyone here, and how did you hear about our event. The answers matter, but so does how people answer. Nervousness, lack of familiarity, avoiding eye contact, inconsistent answers, or a lack of purpose can all be indicators that something deserves additional attention.

We also discussed analyzing locations from the largest level down to the smallest. Understanding the country, state, city, neighborhood, and even the street helps us better understand the risks that may exist in a particular environment. Good security starts long before we ever arrive on site.

The second half of the day focused on weapons deployment and response after a shooting, bombing, stabbing, or other violent attack has already occurred. We spent hours working through Krav Maga, weapon defenses, weapon takeaways, dry drills, and deployment techniques before putting those skills to work on the range.

One lesson continues to stand out throughout this trip. Most good people do not want to take a life. The threat does. The terrorist does. The attacker does. They want to take your life, your children's lives, and the lives of people in your community.

If we are not prepared and capable of responding immediately, we increase the likelihood that more innocent people will be harmed while waiting for help to arrive.

That is why training matters. That is why preparedness matters. That is why facility hardening, community awareness, medical training, and professional security all matter.

For years I have said that when seconds count, help is minutes away. The more capable we make our communities, organizations, schools, and places of worship, the more lives we can preserve when something goes wrong.

The bad guys are doing their homework. They are studying targets, looking for vulnerabilities, and searching for easy opportunities.

The question is simple.

What are you doing today to become a harder target?