The GRAAL Group was founded in 2007 by former special operations personnel from various countries who have served extensively in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa, Bosnia, South America, East Timor and the Pacific Rim countries both as soldiers and as private security professionals. Their combined experiences, knowledge, education, language abilities, cross-cultural communications skills, insight and sensitivity to each countries traditions, ethics and values sets them apart from other private security companies operating throughout the world today.
GRAAL Group aspires to be the leading, global provider of full spectrum integrated risk mitigation solutions to multinational corporations, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) and private corporations/individuals. GRAAL provides each of its clients with a high level menu of security services to include: Security Consultancy, Security Operations and Project Support, Systems Design and Integration, and security related Training. The organization believes it will be the premium service provider by implementing a strong ethics policy and coordinating extensive training to reinforce those ethics.
Recent events in the world have demonstrated the significant dependence that the United States, western governments and developing nations have placed upon private security companies (PSC’s) and private military companies (PMC’s) to support and sustain their activities in regions plagued with war, insurgency and natural devastation. Military forces are over-stressed, under-trained, and under-strength. Missions that were traditionally the exclusive responsibility of the military have now been delegated to PSC’s/PMC’s to fill. The sometimes criminal behavior and inadequate control and oversight of PSC’s/PMC’s operating in hostile environments has resulted in congressional hearings and cries for better regulation and enforcement. Some of the PSC’s have come under close scrutiny for the highly questionable actions of their personnel. The role of the PSC/PMC may change and evolve but it is here to stay for the foreseeable future. How it changes and the direction it moves in will be entirely dependent upon the industry itself and what actions it takes to comply with the laws, regulations, cultures and traditions of the world body.
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Strategy
The strategy of GRAAL is demanding and addresses the weaknesses found in other high profile PSC’s operating in the hostile regions of the world. Unfortunately these PSC’s have ignored or even worse neglected the very basics and fundamentals necessary to ensure success in these volatile areas of conflict. The PSC industry is a service based industry and the service we provide is founded upon the selected professionals that we hire, train and deploy in support of contracts. The strategy for GRAAL consists of the following four phases in the development of our service providers:
- Hire the Right People for the Job. A review of resumes, background check and intensive interview is the first phase in the selection process to ensure that the men and women that are retained by GRAAL are the best choice for the specific positions required.
- Selection and Assessment. After the first phase has been completed, successful candidates will be requested to attend the selection and assessment phase. During this ten day course, candidates will be tested on existing skill sets, aptitudes, attitudes and maturity. Candidates who display leadership qualities will be considered for leadership roles. This critical second phase is not currently employed by any of the top tier PSC’s. Upon assessment, those candidates who are selected will be scheduled to attend training in the next available course.
- Training. During this third phase, students will attend the specific courses necessary for their positions within the Company. The PSR/PSD courses are four weeks in duration and will train students in the Team Concept and upon completion of the course of instruction, deploy the students as a Team. The advantage to this concept is that the PSR/PSD Team will have built cohesion and camaraderie and will rotate through deployments as a Team. Differences in personalities, strengths and weaknesses can be addressed during the training phase and personnel effectively managed to achieve the best results and Team effectiveness. Currently, this method is not practiced by PSC’s as they rotate individuals rather than teams. All PSS operatives will receive training in cross-cultural communications, are given specific regional and area orientation, rudimentary language skills and are sensitive to the environment within which they operate. Each PSS operator is well versed in local laws and customs and implements the rules of engagement using approved escalation of force procedures. This additional training and subsequent certification is what sets our operators apart from our competitors. Training is the key to our success and our training is what differentiates us from the rest of the market. Government agencies that are finding it difficult to access ranges and other training facilities can contract with GRAAL to use the Training Center. Courses can be taught by GRAAL’s cadre or by the unit’s trainers.
- Certification and Credentialing. Upon the completion of the training phase, students will be required to meet the standards of the course by performance oriented training and testing. Each terminal learning objective will consist of a task, condition and standard. Students who successfully meet or exceed the standards of the course will be certified by the training cadre and if required by the appropriate government agency who will then provide the students with the credentials of certification. The certification process allows GRAAL to deploy personnel with greater confidence and assurances that expectations of professional performance, personal conduct, and ethical behavior will be adhered too.
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