Pond Security: Aiming to protect lives through training, professionalism

HEIDELBERG, Germany -- Germany's deep snow, rainy days and hot summers don't deter a group of men and women from braving the elements daily to protect the U.S. military communities where they serve.

The 3,400 Pond Security officers and support personnel who guard 25 sites throughout Germany take their job seriously and have the training and authority to fulfill their mission.

"We're the first person anyone sees coming on that post," said Guy Lane, U.S. contracts manager, Pond Security Services, which holds the third largest security contract for the U.S. government according to epipline, a federal contracting research company.

Each officer receives 136 hours of initial proficiency-based training, which incorporates situational training exercises and firearms training. All of the training is conducted during a four- to five-week resident training session at the Pond Academy located in Freigericht-Bernbach, near Hanau.

The basic training includes a 40-hour German Basic Security Officer Course, which introduces the students to the laws governing their authority and liability as security officers, as well as the penal and civil codes that govern their actions.

The course also teaches de-escalation through interpersonal communication, physical security, firefighting skills and first aid.

"We are one of the only schools where you can teach this (course) directly," said Kai Wagenknecht, training coordinator, Pond Academy.

The students also receive a 40-hour German Weapons Safety Course, which teaches ballistics, laws governing weapons, armed self-defense and basic marksmanship.

The academy houses a shooting cinema where students can practice and qualify with their weapons.

The cinema also is used by hunters and sport shooters to hone their skills.

"They enjoy the opportunity to learn the basics," Wagenknecht said. "In the sport shooting clubs, they've got just standing targets ... we can show them different types of shooting."

They also teach staff from other security companies, he said. There are only two other civilian companies who have a cinema, but Pond Academy is the only company that offers marksmanship training - not just a range.

The remaining 56 hours of instruction cover the U.S. government contract or performance of work standards.

The PWS training establishes the rules of force, which mirror what military police abide by. Basically the officers are taught to use the least amount of force to end the situation whether it's through unarmed self defense, a baton or a sidearm.

Ninety percent of the work security officers do is access control and the PWS training teaches the new officers how to go about theses duties from using the Installation Access Control System to vehicle searches.

The officers are not gate guards, Lane said. "That gate doesn't need guarding; that gate's OK. We're guarding lives, and we're guarding very important property."

Officers are trained how to perform their patrol duties from responding to incidents, surveillance, and guard force communications and how to deal with U.S. personnel.

Finally, the PWS training establishes the standards for qualification and training.

"All we do here ends in certification," Lane said, adding that the weapons qualification meets both U.S. military standards and German weapons law standards.

The academy also teaches explosive detection and patrol dog handling, large vehicle inspections, and how to conduct baggage searches.

Each security officer is also required to complete 116 hours of training per year, with semi-annual situational training exercises. The training focuses on all aspects of the work and includes a lot of interpersonal communication, as well as quarterly weapons familiarization and qualification - more than the German Polizei or military police.

"They've started concentrating more on training," said Steve Holton, a supervisor in Wiesbaden, who occasionally teaches at the academy and has been with Pond Security for 12 years.

"The positive side about (a situational training exercise) - it's very good, because hands on is the best anyway, that's the best way to learn," said Holton, a former U.S. Soldier.

Security officers are also required to take physical fitness tests and random drug tests.

To compensate the officers for their dedication, Pond Security Services pays them one of the highest wages in the security industry in Germany with differential pay for night shifts and holidays.

Not many people can earn as much with out a degree or a trade license, Lane said.

One of the new hires at the academy, Martin Deubel was attracted to the money, he said.

The 24 year old was an auto mechanic in Garmisch, but with the recent downturn in the economy, he was let go.

Deubel saw an advertisement in a newspaper for a security officer at the NATO school in Oberammergau and applied.

He was in his third week of training and said he had learned a lot of information in a really short time.

Deubel had never shot a weapon before coming to the academy and said he was nervous the first time he shot the pistol, but now he is comfortable with the weapon and ready to qualify.

The students are required to qualify to Army standards, but the academy reserves the right to disqualify a candidate if they're not confident with the weapon.

"In the end, if in our opinion this guy is not able to carry a weapon, we will not allow him to go out and carry a weapon," Wagenknecht said.

The trainers have the ability to pull out any student they feel is not qualified to perform the work. Supervisors are given the same empowerment, Lane said.

"Our people are trained to the highest standard levels in Europe for this industry," Lane said, adding that above and beyond all the training, Pond Security officers must speak English and German.

"There are not any better trained security personnel," Lane said, "and I'll go ahead and make this statement - in the world who do what we do."

(Editor's Note: Jason Austin writes for the USAG Baden-Wuerttemberg newspaper, the Herald Post.)