It’s an unfortunate fact that businesses based on the likeli-hood of bad things happening are booming in America right now. It’s not however, much of a surprise to any of us — or any of you, for that matter. Alternately known as executive protection, protective service detail, personal security detail, or close protection (among other names), there’s a bustling industry for bodyguards to protect anyone who can afford to pay. This includes everyone from CEOs and celebrities to schools and churches.
These protection specialists spend their entire professional lives becoming experts at all the bad stuff that could happen, how it could happen, and how to prevent or interrupt it. But these abilities are not magical or superhuman, nor should such knowledge be restricted to the minds of paid professionals. This is why a number of our contributing authors are former or currently active protection specialists, and why our editorial staff has sought out multiple training events in the protective service industry. This knowledge has direct and immediate applications for prepared citizens looking to protect themselves and their loved ones from the array of threats that we all face in a post-COVID world.
Karl de la Guerra is more qualified to speak to these points than most, so we took the opportunity to sit down with him and talk a little about what drove him to dedicate his entire career to risking his safety for others, and what lessons he’s learned about security and personal protection along the way.
OFFGRID: Tell us a little bit about yourself and where you grew up. Karl de la Guerra: I’m a country boy at heart. Growing up in the Texas Hill Country, just north of San Antonio in a small ranching community around Bandera, I spent summers working on many of the large ranches that ran cattle. I’d repair fences, ride fence lines, clean stables, and repair barns — that sort of thing. It was a wholesome lifestyle. My involvement and passion for music kept me busy the rest of the time. I think back home everyone still remembers me as the kid that played keyboards at the local churches, dude ranches, and nightclubs in and around the San Antonio area.
When did you decide to join the military? What made you decide to serve?
KDG: When I was 10 years old, I sat my parents down for a “family meeting” and told them that when I grow up, I want to be a police-man because I want to protect people. Where that came from at the time,
