SIA Training: The Relevance of Ex-Military experience in private security:
Security Industry experts are of the opinion that generic management skills and soft skills are all too overlooked when ex military personnel enter the private security industry. It can be argued that with the exception of Close Protection (SIA training) all other categories of private security is unrelated to the military.
Security management training has ventured beyond standard SIA training for licensed operatives – as currently (2009) the SIA and it’s advisors has not yet stipulated an accepted management training model that is licence linked.
SIA licence training is the first step into the private security industry.
Whilst military experience has it’s benefits, perhaps from an anti-terror or discipline perspective, on average, it should not constitute for accredited prior learning towards SIA training or security management training unless there truly was an academic model parallel to the SIA training guidelines.
SIA Training companies should focus on generic management skills through partnership with business colleges if we are going to make security a real profession.
This can be achieved once SIA training and licence applications have been achieved by moving towards unit based training and accredited prior learning of what a candidate may have achieved previously in management training – i.e. employment law, health and safety, contract law, customer service (NVQ Training)