Are you about to leave the army or have you already left the army? Are you feeling down about having to apply for ‘normal' jobs with all the other thousands of unemployed people in the U.K?

With your specialist skills and the high-adrenaline environments you are used to, ordinary work on Civvy Street is hardly the perfect match.

There are future career options available that suit ex-squaddies down to the ground. One of these is a career in Close Protection. This article seeks to answer the five main questions about CP work and will hopefully help you to identify whether this could be a future career for you!

 Q1. What is Close Protection?

Close Protection work involves being trained up as a bodyguard so you can protect important people in a variety of potentially serious situations.

 Q2. What are the benefits of working in the Close Protection industry?

There are a large amount of benefits. Once you are working as a Close Protection Officer you will be able to travel the world on protection assignments. The people that you are assigned to protect are often very important. This means that you could meet people like celebrities, politicians, business people and even royalty!

One of the main benefits of CP work is the variety of training you will receive. Officers will be trained in disciplines such as physical combat, advanced driving, surveillance, risk assessment, kidnap and ransom. It is an exciting career with ever-changing challenges, environments and situations. This can be perfect for an ex-squaddie!

 Q3. Do I need qualifications?

Although ex-squaddies may already have training in the fields mentioned above, further training and qualifications are needed before you can become a CP officer.

You will need to take courses that provide you with a CP qualification, F-POS qualification and SIA license.

 Q4. Who provides the training?

There are a lot of training providers out there. The key, however, is to choose a provider that provides the best quality training. You want your trainers to be experts in the field, preferably having an ex-military or Special Forces background. This will give them the necessary practical skill and experiences to train you to the best of your ability.

 Q5. Can I get financial help?

The training and courses you need to take can be expensive, depending on the quality of the training. The good news is that funding can be made available to those leaving the army.

ELCAS funding is sometimes made available so you should speak to your resettlement officer to see how much funding you are entitled to. The amount may depend on such things as how long you have been in service, but it could cover up to all of your training.