What are Qualifications worth?

Kia Ora,

Well have just had three firey  anonymous emails from someone questioning my qualifications to write these blogs. They then have threatened to publish elsewhere if I don't allow their emails to be put on my blog.

Well I won't because they don't have the guts to put their name to it, but I will respond & also point out some facts they have wrong.

The first thing they question is my formal qualifications. I do have some, but in the real world that is just slavery & those with them work for those without in the end.

But as to my qualifications. First I came from the military which is the highest level of security.  Those qualifications are obtained at a much higher standard than any I have seen in civvy street.

On leaving I completed NZQA courses. First thing I was told when I went to sign up was "f... off, you are overqualified", but been in a new environment I decided to do it anyway. I should of listened as most of it was a waste of time.

Those same people then told me to start my own company as my standards were too high for security in NZ. Again I should of listened as they were right & I was wrong.

Later I attended a security meeting where they were promoting level 6 NZQA to be introduced. But on looking at it, I had carried it to a higher level in the Infantry than those who would have to have it in the industry.

SIA I wouldn't of minded getting their qualifications, but now it is about actually getting on the ground & getting things going. You don't combat crime in the classroom.

Within my companies anyone with NZQA or any qualifications will not be looked at unless they have either the experience (mainly military) or mindset to back it up.

OSH again just carry it on from how we practised in the military. Security is no different & in fact that came out in Iraq on numerous occassions as risk assessment was very fluid. It had to be as so was the threat.

I have talked to OSH over this from moment I formed my company, their take was they couldn't believe some of the things carried out by security companies in the name of OSH i.e. wearing fluro jackets in a bank.
I have asked them how do we assess risk in your books? My understanding of it is worst case scenario you can think of even if it hasn't happened to you.

Their reply is correct & I even was able to correct them on something.

So worst case I have been close too is three VBIED's & arrived shortly after one or two other suicide bombings. So I have to aim my risk assessment there & have procedures for that level.

You don't need a bit of paper when your culture (from the military) is continous risk assessment. In fact because it is on going I was asked would I like to join a group looking at that, as there had been serious accidents because people were not identifying risks when entering new areas.


The anonymous emailer goes on about formal qualifications. Obviously someone who has brought into the modern slavery. Qualifications are Ok as I have said if they have the practical experience to go with it.

Captain Wallingford whose machine guns held the Nek on the first day at Gallipoli did so effectively because he was able to apply both the theory of machine gun fire & being a farmer, the practical assessment of the land to deny the Turkish forces almost certain victory on the first day.

As to the writers claims that I was only a gunner, not a consultant in Iraq, he needs to get his facts right.

My first contract was as a 'consultant' & was posted as part of the 'bodyguard' team or as I called it the 'suicide stay behind squad'. Because one or two of us would be left behind with multiple clients.

It was made very clear we were consultants after I made a client put on his body armour to visit an area that was dodgy at the time. As consultants we were only allowed to advise, not enforce safety precautions.

My next contract was as a driver & member of an Armed protetion team & then on the main contract I was a driver, vehicle commander (as it was designated) & at times yes, rear gunner. I was also radio operator & for a while team intelligence gatherer as that is something I like. It is also always been a strength being able to see things others couldn't.

In NZ up until now I have given security advice freely & often told off for it as I was giving too much to the industry, who don't have a clue as they have never been at those levels. I was advised I should be marketing myself as a consultant as that is what I do for all intent purposes, but it is not something I focus on.

The last point this individual argues about is the fact I also write blogs on financial matters & only those with formal education should do that.

Dr Cullen the previous Minister of Finance had a doctorate in history, but he never learnt the most important history & that is financial.

Dr Dolf de Roos on the other hand has a degree in engineering, but because when he first began studying for his degree, he realized those with them are not the ones with money he studied what was the common demoninator for the rich. In the end he came up with property.

He kept studying as it was free at the time & he built his property portfolio in the meantime. To this day he has never used that degree. He took that subject because he decided that after looking at all other areas, he didn't like blood & everything else followed a set pattern. Engineering solved problems just like investing.

What I know about  the financial area comes from him, Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Richard Branson & many other like minded people. Most do not have degrees or if they do it was for a certain reason.

To them you do not need any formal education. In fact it is a hinderance.

In security, finance or any other area I will favour experience over a bit of paper.

I know for instance that most people coming off level 3 NZQA courses these days actually know very little about security. One even said I learnt nothing compared to what I have learnt working alongside experienced staff.

That is not to say degrees etc don't have their place.

Just seems to me we are repeating the mistakes of history again. When academics thought they were better than everyone else in 2500BC it destroyed Ionian society which up to then had flourished as all areas were seen as equal.

Or as Winston Churchill said "the further back we look, the further forward we see".

So I can see forward & are working on making that work for me. I don't need qualifications to do it as my experience tells what I think is right. Not always going to be right but then that is the main way people learn.

Not in the classroom. That is shown  in the cone of learning. You learn the least in lectures or through reading, most through doing to simulation.

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