Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/713424
G e r m a n G S G - 9 o p e r at o r c o m m e at ta c k i n N i c e , F r a n c e RALF KASSNER – is a former special forces member and mission leader of the German GsG9 and seK counter-terrorist units. he has instructed and trained with most of the european special teams, to include the GiGn, sas, raid, Goe, as well as caG, deVGru, fbi hrt, and more. he is now the ceo of wodan security. Story: Jürgen HatzenbicHler, Spartanat.com You have carried out close protection operations in Nice, how do you regard the recent terrorist attack? i have operated several times in nice this year and during my time there we observed several Gendarme and military operations, especially in the area of the massena square, a popular tourist location. during our oper- ational preparation we also came across a number of terror warnings for the côte d'azur. the nice attack is once again a cowardly act that indiscriminately killed innocent people including many women and children. tactically, from the terrorist's viewpoint, the attack was well thought out and executed, targeting the celebrations on a national holiday. i emphasize this be- cause as with many other attacks it indicates a high level of preparation by the terrorists. i also believe that the security forces present in nice were only able to identify the attack as such fairly late, which made the response extremely difficult. In your opinion were the security measures for this large scale event insufficient? Or is it just too easy to act as a mass murderer? well, the way i see it you have to be pretty disturbed to indiscriminately kill innocent people under the guise of religion or fanaticism. however you don't necessarily need a firearm, which is why i cannot understand the whole discussion about increasing firearms laws! are they going to restrict truck licenses now? a terrorist intent on committing an atrocity will use any means imaginable! with regards to your question about the security measures i will remain by my principle of not judging a situation in which i was not involved. the french security forces have extensive anti-terrorist experience and did an excellent job during the european soccer championships. if we retrospectively start to question why there were no tank barriers and so on, well we could then argue that terrorists could drive a motorbike loaded with explosives into the crowd. there are so many conceivable scenarios that it is impossible to prepare for, or prevent everything. no country in the world can do that! To put it another way, do Executive Protection personnel even have a chance at preventing a surprise attack by a lone-wolf ter- rorist who apparently has no connections to an organization? i think that without information from intelligence agencies or tip-offs from inside the terrorist's circle it is extremely difficult to prevent such attacks. the terrorist does however have to plan the attack and carry out reconnaissance to that end. the nice attacker was reportedly at the scene of the attack several times before the incident. if the terrorist acts in a manner which draws attention to themselves, such as taking photos or videos, then there is a small chance that protective personnel could be alerted. this is a slim chance however as terrorists will try to blend in with their surroundings, shaving off their beards and wearing everyday clothing. in protective security operations i can only advise the principal not to visit certain countries or attend certain events. however many clients resist such advice… this means that the team has to pay extra attention to their operational preparation, establish contingency plans, recruit additional local personnel, and identify safe houses and much more. We have seen that to carry out mass murder, any means avail- able, from an AK to a suicide belt, from an aircraft to a car or even a knife can be effective. How does this affect society's basic need for security? i believe that is more a question for the politicians, this topic will al- most certainly be used during election campaigns. statements such as; 'further information would be too disturbing…' do nothing to re- assure the public. we have been lucky so far in Germany, but due to www.fragoutmag.com