What to expect
This one-day (8-hour) workshop introduces protection practitioners to the evolving landscape of modern protective coverage, with a focus on integrating surveillance awareness, surveillance detection methodology, and covert protection concepts into executive protection operations.
Designed for practitioners at varying stages of their careers, the course balances foundational understanding with hands-on application. Participants will explore overt, low-profile, and covert protective models, examine how adversarial surveillance manifests in real-world environments, and gain exposure to the skill sets required to proactively identify, disrupt, and mitigate emerging threats before they reach the principal.
Rather than focusing solely on reactive protection, this workshop emphasizes prevention, detection, and decision-making. It demonstrates how surveillance detection and intelligence-informed approaches can enhance traditional protective operations across urban and residential environments, both domestically and internationally.
Through practical exercises and a culminating scenario, participants will be introduced to the tools, techniques, and mindset required to integrate surveillanceaware protection into existing teams or organizations. The workshop is intentionally scoped to showcase what a mature surveillance and detection capability looks like, while giving attendees tangible skills they can immediately apply.
Who Should Attend?
✅ Describe and differentiate overt, discreet, and covert protective coverage models
✅ Understand the role of surveillance in threat development and attack planning
✅ Explain the fundamentals of surveillance and surveillance detection methodology
✅ Identify common behavioral and environmental indicators associated with hostile surveillance
✅ Apply basic surveillance detection techniques in urban and residential settings
✅ Understand how covert protection and low-visibility assets support protective operations
✅ Demonstrate integrated decision-making during a practical protection-focused scenario
Instructional Methodology
The workshop utilizes a blended instructional approach consisting of approximately 40 percent lecture and facilitated discussion and 60 percent hands-on practical exercises. Progressive skill-building exercises lead into a culmination scenario designed to integrate all concepts introduced throughout the day. Instructor-led after-action reviews focus on decision-making, observation, and judgment rather
than performance grading.
Equipment Requirements
Participants should bring a smartphone. Laptops or tablets are
recommended but optional. Headphones or earbuds are encouraged for certain exercises. No specialized equipment or prior surveillanceexperience is required.
One-Day Workshop Outline
Introduction and Course Framing
Course objectives, intent, and expectations. Framing protection as a preventative and intelligence-informed discipline, with discussion on limitations of scope and safety considerations.
Protective Coverage
Models
Overview of overt, low-profile, and covert protection; static versus mobile coverage; solo versus team-based operations. Practical exercise mapping coverage models to real-world scenarios.
Surveillance as a Threat Process
Understanding surveillance as part of the attack cycle. Identification of surveillance objectives, roles, and indicators within urban and residential environments.
Surveillance Detection Methodology Overview
Introduction to structured surveillance detection processes, baseline development, pattern-of-life analysis, and detection techniques. Practical drills emphasizing observation and articulation.
Covert Protection and Low-Visibility Assets
Purpose and integration of covert protection. Discussion on positioning, communication, ethical considerations, and common integration failures.
Progressive Practical Exercises
Scenario-based drills combining protective coverage decisions, surveillance awareness, and detection techniques. Participants rotate roles with instructor coaching.
Culmination Exercise
Movement-based scenario in an urban or residential setting. Participants integrate coverage selection, movement planning, surveillance awareness, and detection-informed decision-making under time pressure.
After-Action Review and Close
Structured after-action review focusing on observations, decisions, missed indicators, and lessons learned. Discussion on scaling capabilities within organizations.
Meet Your Instructor:
Josh Burmeister
Josh Burmeister is an elite security specialist with extensive experience in protective operations, surveillance, and surveillance detection. With a career spanning both government and private-sector security operations, he has trained numerous professionals in advanced surveillance methodologies. His expertise in risk mitigation, operational security, and covert surveillance techniques makes him uniquely qualified to lead this intensive training workshop.
Josh worked as an overseas contractor providing static and mobile security for the intelligence community for several years across multiple deployments in various areas of operations. He also has firsthand experience as a surveillance instructor/role player within the department of defense and intelligence community training pipelines.
In addition to teaching surveillance and surveillance detection throughout multiple government agencies, Josh was also a lead instructor at a nationally recognized executive protection school, and was CEO of his own training company for security professionals before selling it and moving into training and consulting.
Attendees will gain invaluable insights from Josh’s unparalleled real-world experience and field-tested strategies to enhance their operational effectiveness.
Logistics & Registration
Course duration:
One 8-hour day
Location:
San Antonio, TX
Instructor:
Josh Burmeister
Date:
March 27, 2026
Fee:
$499 per participant
Participation:
Limited to 18 registrants
