National Security is Everyone's Business

April 20th, 2024 | 9:32 AM ET

The Role of Private Security Companies

Posted: December 22nd, 2015

By Gerry Northwood OBE

Gerry Northwood, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is the Chief Operating Officer of MAST Security, a leading global private security provider.  He was formerly a Captain in the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, where he commanded Royal Navy operations against Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean and narcotics smugglers in the Caribbean.

Gerry Northwood OBE is applying his experience as a Captain in the Royal Navy to his new role as the Chief Operating Officer of Maritime Asset Security & Training Ltd to ensure his client’s safety when operating in the maritime realm.  Northwood told The Cipher Brief that private companies, like his, fill in the gaps where governments simply do not have the resources or personnel to ensure complete safety in international and territorial waters.  He discussed the challenges his clients face in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Cipher Brief: Help our readers better understand the piracy threat in the Gulf of Guinea.   

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+

Categorized as:InternationalTagged with:

Related Articles

How Safe Would We Be Without Section 702?

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that has generated controversy around fears of the potential for abuse has proven to be crucial […] More

June 1st, 2023

Search

Close