Executive protection, like other organizational programs, can be examined from a "return on

investment" (ROI) standpoint. This statement has a lot of relevance to a protective services
program. That is in cognizance of the fact that the EP program comes at great benefits to
organizations. There are both tangible and intangible benefits of EP to organizations (Oatman,
2016). Some of the tangible benefits include the fact the executives or persons of interest become
more productive since they are able to work without being distracted threats, the lack of physical
damage to facilities as a result of attacks, avoidance of litigation that due to failure to protect a
safe work environment as well the avoidance of downtime. Some of the intangible benefits
include less stress and the creation of a positive public image.

In general EP programs are quite expensive to implement in regards to the kind of financial,
human resources and time resources that are required to establish them and keep them operating.
However, from the standpoint of ROI, the benefit of the EP programs more than justifies such
hefty cost incurred in establishing and maintaining them (Bonner, 2016). This is especially true
in the modern world where there are numerous kinds of security threats to organizations as well
as their staff. Such threats could stem from the growing menace caused by global terrorism,
increased threats due to local insecurity and criminal activities. As such in it of great importance
for organizations to put in place measures to establish EP programs to protect themselves, their
personnel as well their interest from such threats.

One of the most important benefits of executive protection is that it makes it possible for
organizations as well as their executives to maintain their focus on their work instead of
worrying about their safety which is important in improving productivity. Also, executive
protection is not only beneficial for the sake of productivity but it also makes it possible for
individuals to concentrate more on their families, friends, occupations on simply having a
good time as worries about personal safety take a back seat to living in the moment.
Executive protection is not just for politicians or even executives but can be used to provide
personal security to all kinds of people in situations where various kinds of threats to
personal safety exist. Also, there are various levels of executive protection that can be
accorded to individuals depending on the levels of threats which means that it is possible to
ensure the security of all at-risk individuals.

Another important benefit of executive protection is that it leads to reduced anxiety of

stalking. In the modern risk-averse world, it is important to ensure the personal safety of
individuals in industries that have high risks associated with personal threats such as
politics, banking, law enforcement or even pharmaceuticals since such occupations often
are associated with various kinds of unexpected hazards. For instance, the CEO of a major
financial institution such as a bank may require executive protection because such
individuals have an inherently high risk of being kind kidnapped for high ransoms. Also,
technology has put individuals in certain kinds of industries or companies at risk of
cyberstalking with the intention of criminal activities. Under executive protection, such
individuals need not worry about threats to their security and they can continue enjoying
their lives or work with their safety being guaranteed.

A good example of an EP program that has proven its worth in regards to ROI is the protection
accorded to The President of the United States. The presidential EP program is one of the most
comprehensive and expensive on a global scale. The heavy costs of the program are more than
justified since in the last 50 years there has hardly been any decent security attack on a sitting
U.S president which has in a great way helped to maintain the political and economic stability of
the nation. In light of such revelations, it makes great sense for organizations to follow suit and
ensure that EP programs are well established and funded to reap maximum benefits from such
programs.

Question 2

One of the key lessons derived from the events of 9/11 is that a focused adversary can cause
terrible damage even with modest resources (Oatman, 2016). That is in light of the kind of
impact that the attacks on the Twin Towers on that fateful day in September had not only on
America but also on the rest of the world. There is no doubt that the U.S is one of the most
protected nations in the world as billions of dollars are spent every year to secure the mainland.
Also, there are thousands of security officers operation within and outside American borders
whose main role is to secure the mainland. However, on a fateful day, all the defenses that
America has put in place to secure its terrorism and citizens were watered down by a group of
terrorists with meager resources but with great focus and execution.

By their very nature, most criminal activities or acts of terrorism are carried out by
individuals with very little to lose and with very little resources. However, because most
criminals, as well as terrorist, have very little resources to carry out their ambitions with,
they have to be focused to make the best use of the resources available to them often with
disastrous consequences. A good example can be seen in the example of the 2004 attack on
Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov who was killed during an attack on the public
stadium during a national celebration. Even though the president had massive Executive
protection resources at his disposal, the terrorist was still able to achieve their goals by
utilizing the little resources available to them with deadly precision. It was clear that given
their inadequacies in regards to the kinds of weapons and resources available to them, the
terrorists would not have been in a position to achieve their objectives in light of the
massive security detail that normally accompanied the president. The only option available
to the terrorist was to use the resources available to them with great focus and that is how
they plan to plant a bomb deep below the concrete of the stadium was hatched as the
stadium was undergoing rehabilitation in preparation for the national celebrations.

In most cases, security forces, as well as law enforcement agencies, lose their focus which is
something that most criminals and terrorists cannot afford to do. In the presence of heavy
law enforcement personnel and resources, security officers often get a false sense of
security which leads them to lose their focus and let down their guard often with disastrous
consequences. Criminals and terrorists, on the other hand, spend sometimes years, months,
or even week planning an attack with a great focus which enables them to cover all likely
scenarios which makes them well prepared to launch attacks that have deadly
consequences.

The terrorists who carried out the attacks on American soil on 9/11 had spent a lot of time and
effort planning and executing the attacks with deadly precision. Apart from their focus and
inspiration, the terrorists had little in way of financial resources but still managed to orchestrate
the worst attack on American soil in the history of the nation. It was clear from the get-go for the
terrorist that if they were to plan and implement such a deadly attack on American soil with so
little resources, they had to use American resources to do so. To them, the best way to do that
with minimal resources or suspicion was to hijack American passenger airplanes and crash them
into the Twin Towers. The terrorist through their focus had already identified the laxity of
security measures in local Airports and it turns out getting weapons past Airline security was a
walk in the park for them (Johnson and Trujillo, 2017). What remained was dealing with the
issue of how to fly the planes and was taken care of by having experienced pilots do the work for
them. With such minimal resources, the terrorist caused great loss of American lives and caused
massive damage in the heart of the motherland. From such, it is clear that a focused adversary
even with little resources can cause a lot of damage to even the most fortified and defended
targets.