Customer Reviews

The Art of Executive Protection

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As someone who works in the field of executive Protection, for the past 7 years in Algeria, I found this book both educational and entertaining.
A lot of the books published about this field of work appear to be targeted at people who have watched the film bodyguard and are attracted to the profession for the glamour in my opinion.
For this reason it is rare I purchase a book on the subject. I made an exception in this case as it was recommended by another professional in the field, and was more than pleasantly surprised by the quality of the contents.
My father once said if you only learn one thing from a book, it has been worth buying, I learned a lot from this book, and in my opinion it is worth its weight in gold...

As a guidebook for protection specialists or a primer for developing your own corporate protection program, Mr. Oatman has supplied the foundation necessary to make the right decisions. Everything from planning proper "advance" work to putting the principle to bed at the end of the day, Oatman leaves nothing to chance. All the myths of the professional bodyguard are destroyed, paving the way for the new mindset of executive protector. No longer the gorilla in an ill fitting suit, the modern protector could very well be the executive assistant, and often is.

My reluctance to purchase a book on executive protection was finally overcome when hearing of Mr. Oatmans work. As a Director and operator of South Africa's premier executive protection company I am happy to say the the man has hit the nail on the head. I highly recommend this work to both newcommers and seasoned operators in this amazing industry. It should also be compulsory reading for the security managers of every large corporate in the world - well done for putting a lot of professionals thoughts into writing -Sir!

This is a noteworthy presentation for the practicing protection professional whether you are new in the field or an "Old Hand." Bob Oatman is the consumate professional, possessing the education, experience, and integrity to present the important and necessary guidelines for the practioner in this text. Every protection practioner should keep and revisit this work often. It will serve them well and should be among the 'dog eared' texts in your reference library.

A great place to start for the protection business. I review it ever so often--good solid reminder of what we should be practicing.

Basically a reveiw of the highpoints of Executive Protection, of general interest to those who are considering employing a professional. Not rich in detail for those working in the profession.

I am a graduate of the R. L. Oatman Executive Protection program. I have a BS in criminal justice and studied the Secret Service extensively my freshman year. I also attended the community college where the Oatman program is affiliated. This text is not written to reflect the real world. More so, it is tailored to interest those who might partake (pay money) in the Oatman program. A far better text for those interested in Executive Protection (and secret service related work) is "The Secret Service: The hidden history of an enigmatic agency." By Philip H. Melanson, PH.D.
This is a far better starting point for understanding how security and the need for EPS has evolved. The Oatman text is not informative, rather short, and mostly uninteresting. I have also read the "Executive Protection Bible" which is also not a very good text - even though it covers a wide range of subjects specific to EPS work. I do not claim to be an active EP specialist nor do I work for the secret service, but it is my opinion that "The Art of Executive Protection" is not worth $27.95. I spent thousands of dollars on the Oatman training- read all 3 of his texts (plus his training course material) - and found that I knew more than the instructors. Whats more, many subjects which are explored provide simply incorrect information. It is possible that my training class wasn't par with past training sessions, regardless Oatman provided obvious incorrect information.