TRAINING: That was Protect and Prevent 2018

Krastowitz Castle, last weekend: Under a blue sky that merges into the rocks of the Karawanken on the horizon, a heavy security gate rises among scattered bullet casings, with steel pillars erected in the parking lot. Not far away, a Ford van is role-playing as a specially protected vehicle, surrounded by a group of men drilling the evacuation of a protectee in the sun.

Security test: EFAPROTECT is trying to get its new security gate cracked by these highly motivated gentlemen. They didn't make it.

For most experts in the personal protection field, the first two words will ring a bell: PROTECT & PREVENT, the personal protection conference, has always taken place at Krastowitz Castle and its surroundings. The reasons are obvious: state-of-the-art seminar rooms, plus meadows, slopes, and asphalt surfaces undisturbed for an entire weekend. The perfect environment to meet the high demands of a personal protection seminar that also wants to live up to that designation.

Excellent speakers across the board with diverse topics related to personal protection.

According to the founding motto: "Knowledge that comes from experience instead of from books" theory and practice come together here to achieve what matters in terms of security: the big picture, undogmatic, experience-oriented, effective.

Rapt audience.

For three days, high-ranking experts ensured the quality of the workshops and lectures. Among them, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Mag. Michael Bauer, specialists from relevant security companies, as well as long-time trainers from KSK, SEK, and GSG9.

First aid is part of self-protection, taught by Tactical Survival Concepts.

Together, they covered an impressive range of topics: from shooting while sitting to the architecture of the Westgate shopping center, from perpetrator-victim psychology to applying tourniquets, from IT security to IED awareness, from the process of typical abduction cases to communication in crisis. A diverse mosaic that ultimately adds up to more than the sum of its individual stones, namely a portrait of the changed and complicated security situation of the 21st century.

Ready for life training with special protective clothing.

In order to keep track in this constantly changing landscape, contact between experts is essential. Thus, during breaks and evening hours, the second core point of PROTECT & PREVENT emerged: contacts were made, networks expanded, business cards exchanged.

Always on target. Close-range shooting training with ATC and special training ammunition.

Accordingly, the overall evaluation of the participants was positive. This allows confident planning to begin for next year, just a few days after. When experts and actors from the entire German-speaking region gather again in the Klagenfurt Basin to dedicate themselves to a common security update with the motto: "Knowledge that comes from experience instead of from books".

Text: Philipp Raab
Photo: Bernhard Knaus (https://beris-foto.jimdo.com/)

PROTECT and PREVENT on the Internet: www.protect-and-prevent.at

UTM offers a practical training system that allows practice with a normal weapon but special ammunition. At Protect and Prevent 2018, participants were able to extensively test this system.