Bingley - yes absolutely you can put together quite a lot of this training .. Just like what you are doing.

The good thing about a course in some place like Cape Town is that they have less legal constraints. So they can make the practical scenarios more realistic. Hopefully they won't kill any of the students ... Haha! ... But they can do a lot more things to simulate a real hostile environment. That helps a lot. But as you say, these courses do exist in the USA and some are probably good. It's just a matter of combining instruction with realistic practical drills.

Acropolis ... Sent you another PM.

Pete

Looking at the Cape Town course, I can't help but wonder how much they can do in three days. Any one of the topics in their syllabus could easily take up weeks. So learning the physical skills well enough that you can do them on demand three weeks later is already quite tough. The other part is the mental component, which is just impossible without a long time of preparation. Sometimes stress can render you ineffective, and for people who are used to thinking and working in a calm environment, that can be a big obstacle. But I guess journalists don't exactly have months.

I'm not really training for the "hostile environment" -- I'm hoping to stay in nice, safe First World countries, though there are some places I'd like to visit if they stabilize. I just take good courses that fit my schedule and budget just for the sake of learning.

Acropolis, let us know if you end up taking some of these courses and maybe give us a quick AAR.

I think that the value of a course like that is mainly to get you through the shock value of something bad happening. The first time you go through anything hostile or dangerous it has a high psychological shock factor, so the training can expose you to that. Its quite hard to maintain mental composure and analyze things. Simple things ... Like a harsh interrogation at an airport, or getting tossed in the trunk of a car, are not so simple. Hopefully the Cape Town course does some of that stuff.

I remember the first time i was detained on a street in Africa by two soldiers armed with machine guns. That was a long time ago. They didn't rough me up ... Just harassed me and tried to shake me down for a bribe. Its not a comfortable experience, because you don't know what they are going to do next. In my case, i just stayed calm, acted like i had a lot of time, and didn't give them the bribe. It worked in that situation. Don't know if i would pay the money next time ... Its a gut reaction call.

Pete

fWIW, bribery is a much more pleasant experience in Mexico. The LEO manning the checkpoint just stuck his hand out, saying "Feliz Navidad". We were on our way to climb the high volcanoes, so we regarded it as just another travel expense....

Now if you actually get those Maoist rebels to carry peoples's backpacks ... What you would have is a new cottage industry. A new homegrown Sherpa service :-)

Hey listen ... Have you actually run into those guys? Do you know where they are active, and where not? I may get over there some time. I guess i don't care that much, but would prefer not to give them cash. If they were using it for food or medical supplies ... OK maybe. But if they are using the $$ to buy weapons, I'm not so jazzed. :-(

Pete

I'm glad no greater harm came to the people in the two examples Izzy mentioned, but it's no fun to be "unexpectedly detained."

On the matter of bribing, that's become such a common practice in the government of some countries that people even give receipts so the bribers can get reimbursed from their employer. What a crazy world!