In this episode, Mark features Ric Peregrino, a former Marine, police officer, Blackwater executive, and current Managing Director of GBS International Strategic Consultants. Today, Ric gives an inside look into the early days of Blackwater and the unique set of skills he was able to bring to the table.

He shares the inner workings of the training and vetting processes they had in the early days, as well as the critical role of the support teams that support the guys on the ground to make them successful. He also talks about the lesser-known facts about Blackwater teams and their role in protecting NGOs.

Find out more in this latest episode of The Fearless Mindset.

GOLDEN NUGGETS

A unique skillset in military, police, and training - Ric: "What they told me that led me to think maybe I should go over to Blackwater is that they knew that CPA 17 in Iraq was eventually going to change to the state department standard. And I had been known at the industry at the time as a guy that had created teams using military tactics, US state department processes and procedures, and also with a bit of community policing law enforcement combination to it as well."

Blackwater is much more than just the operations teams - Ric: "The operations teams, the 6-man, 12-man teams, 15-man teams, that's actually a very small part of the organization. And what people don't realize is the hundreds of people in support of those 15 people that make them successful as well. So it's true, a PSD high-risk protection agent has skills, but he's also supported by 5, 10, 15 logistics people to get him what he needs."
 

Get to know more about Ric:

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