Altor International

Day in the Life - CPO

Madelyn Coetzee is one of Arcfyre's female CPOs and an integral part of training at Altor International, regularly leading self-defence courses and live scenario training - particularly during Women's Month.

We touched base with her to get some thoughts on her role and the industry.

How do you prepare before an assignment?

‘Mental preparation is crucial. I run through what the task demands and where it could go wrong, and build a plan for each scenario. So when something changes on the ground, I'm a step ahead and the operation keeps moving.

Consistent upkeep of physical fitness, firearm training and self-defence training - goes without saying. Client research beforehand can go a long way in understanding their needs.’

What's a common misconception people can have about close protection work?

‘That you’ll always work with glamorous clients! That you’ll work normal working hours, that the environment will always be comfortable, and that you’ll implement only what you learned during training.’

What's a skill that's more important in this role than people might expect?

‘Communication - when to speak, when to stay quiet, when to just act. Reading a situation and trusting yourself to act on it. Body language - understanding the client's needs before they're voiced.’

What is it like working as a woman in a male-dominated field?

‘You need to show up and perform the same or at a higher level or you do not last. You must respect yourself. The industry is challenging and I believe it is due to my passion for the industry that I became a successful CPO.’

Are there situations where being a female operative is an advantage?

‘Yes, a female CPO can become an element of surprise to an adversary. You don’t look like a threat, whether with a female or male client, and you blend in better. I do believe that female CPO’s tend to read situations differently - used well, it’s a real operational advantage.’

What would you say to women considering close protection as a career?

‘If you have passion and pure drive for the industry, then go for it. Yes, it will be challenging, and yes, you will have to work around a lot of testosterone and males thinking that this is not a place for a female. If you can stay true to yourself and work hard, this is for you.’

Hijack Prevention, Security Awareness and Use of Pepper Spray ⚠️

A practical one-day course for individuals taking ownership of their personal safety.

The day covers three key skills: recognising and responding to vehicle-based threats, reading environments before they escalate, and the use of pepper spray as a defensive weapon.

👉 Sign up here: [email protected]

Situational awareness 👁️👁️

Situational awareness, properly trained, runs in three phases: perception, comprehension, and projection. Each phase plays a distinct role, and a CPO needs all three to read and manage their environment with accuracy:

🛡️ Perception - read the environment
Gathering information about the surroundings. Positioning of people and objects, check behaviours. The aim is an active, observational mindset that picks up both the expected and the unexpected, so nothing relevant goes unnoticed.

🛡️ Comprehension - interpret what you see
Working out what the information means. Assessing behaviours, movements and cues to judge intent - and distinguishing the benign from the malicious. It’s the phase where unnecessary reactions are filtered out and threats are brought into focus. A skill built through experience and training.

🛡️ Projection - anticipate what happens next
Working out how the situation is likely to unfold, and planning the response before it's needed. Adjusting positioning and sight lines in real time - anticipating the flow of people, shifts in attention and exits if required.

Situational awareness is a nuanced, layered skill, and the three phases above are a brief overview. It takes time to develop and is continuously refined through training, deployment and reassessment throughout an operator's career.

Altor International - Resilience Personified

Who are we?

We are an established brand within the global Arcfyre Group. We provide key accredited corporate and individual security training programs, protective operations, risk consulting and specialist online courses.

We assess every potential candidate applying to Arcfyre to strict training criteria.

We continue to biannually develop and assess all successful employees within the group to strict training criteria.

Clients, corporations and protective ops come to us for training ranging from advanced driving, firearm use and handling, to first aid and managing health and safety principles.

We teach practical, theory, hard skills and soft skills.

They come to us to upskill, self-develop, self-improve, protect themselves and protect others.

Our programmes influence the outcomes of hostile situations, preparing and equipping people with the right tools to identify and mitigate potential risks and survive in a crisis.

Resilience personified, that’s us.

Defensive Streetwise Driving - 2 Day Course 🚦

A practical two-day course builds the awareness, judgement, and vehicle control to drive confidently in everyday and higher-risk urban environments.

What you'll cover:
🔹 Hazard perception and situational awareness
🔹 Recognising and avoiding risks
🔹 Vehicle positioning
🔹 Emergency manoeuvres and vehicle control
🔹 Scenario-based practice

👉 Sign up here: email [email protected]

Maximising cover in low light 🕯️

Our Ops team focused on close-quarter survival under low to no-light conditions.

They quickly adapted to the environment, using vehicles as cover while managing impaired reaction times and harder target identification.

▪️ Use light to your advantage ▪️ Clear methodically with a flashlight ▪️ Coordinate weapon handling with handheld or weapon-mounted lights

Control the fight in high-pressure, low-visibility situations

Images taken from UP Training: Low Light

When we talk about hostile environments, we tend to picture high-risk regions, localised civil unrest, complex urban operations and remote sites with limited extraction options.

Sometimes the threat is eight-legged and sitting beside you.

CPOs operate across a range of environments and the training has to match. Training at Altor International is about being flexible, adaptable and always prepared for the unexpected.

Soft skills complement hard skills, and the right combination of the two makes for an exceptional operative.

Developing soft skills helps manage unpredictable environments, volatile people and hostile situations. They also provide more empathetic personal interactions and therefore a higher standard of client service.

What soft skills set strong security professionals apart?

🔹 Communication: Clear, concise communication prevents misunderstandings. It includes listening and understanding non-verbal and social cues - whether addressing a client, coordinating with the team, or de-escalating a threat.

🔹 Flexibility & Adaptability: Every operation will involve unpredictable variables, from changes in client schedules to unexpected threats. The ability to assess, adapt and act decisively in the moment separates a competent operator from an exceptional one.

🔹 Emotional Development: Emotional regulation is key in any high-pressure situation. Remaining calm and judging the appropriate response in a situation is vital for the safe protection of yourself, your principal and the team.

🔹 Problem Solving: a favourite of our CEO Jared Higgins, and one of the most underrated skills in this industry. Operators who stand out are the ones who can read a situation, weigh the options under pressure and resolve issues before they become threats.

🔹 Conflict Resolution: Persuasive communication and de-escalation techniques are core skills in close protection. The ability to read tone, manage emotions and steer confrontation toward a peaceful outcome can defuse a situation before escalation.

🔹 Teamwork: Essential between security professionals and internal teams, and equally important when working with external stakeholders such as law enforcement.

Building these skills takes time - ongoing training, reflection, observation of experienced operators, exposure to different cultures and scenario-based practice all contribute. Soft skills travel well across many industries, and the operators who keep developing them are the ones who stand out.