Surviving the international war zone is about more than just coming out alive, it’s about what you learn and the stories you carry with you. My guest for this interview was Robert Rail, author of the book, Surviving the International War Zone. As you can see from his extensive bio below, Robert has been in war zones around the world.

In honor of National PTSD Awareness Day (June 27) I asked him to stop by the show to share with me his ideas about:

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• what it takes and what it means to survive an international war zone
  
• how the effects of that survive the trip back home
  
• what we can do to help veterans and first responders when they do return home
  
• his favorite story from the book, Surviving the International War Zone
  
• his reason for writing the book
  
• the single best tip for healing after coming home
  

Robert Rail brings over twenty five years of “on the streetâ€, not “in the officeâ€, law enforcement knowledge to the training arena. Bob’s laid-back, interactive, enthusiastic style of teaching has made his classes some of the most highly praised and recognized in the world.

Bob chose the metropolitan area of Chicago, Illinois, to work as a police officer and operate his own martial arts school. Bob’s experience in law enforcement made him aware of the need for improved training in the area of self defense and subject control. His unique duel background and intuitive nature allowed for the natural development of new techniques. Bob’s textbook, Defense Without Damage, teaches select physical skills designed to overcome the high incidence of civil liability involving police officers in arrest and custodial situations.

When Bob retired from the police force he became Director of Training for Hiatt-Thompson Restraints. He has had the opportunity to teach his handcuffing techniques to police officers all over the world and has authored two books on the subject; Reactive Handcuffing Tactics and Custodial Cuffing and Restraint. He was also adjunct faculty at several colleges and Northwestern University, Police Training Institute where he taught numerous physical skills classes including instructor level curriculums.

Bob served with the United Nations as a member of the International Police Task Force in both Bosnia-Herzegovia, and Kosovo. One of his first assignments was deployment to the International Police Academy in Sarajevo. It was while he was there Bob’s handcuffing training manual was selected and translated by the United Nations for police training throughout Bosnia and for numerous other Task Force nations.

Bob’s main position in Bosnia was with the Internal Training and Support Section of the Police Task Force, ITSS. He served as Course Curriculum Designer and Staff Instructor for the police of over 50 nations, specializing in physical confrontation and use of force. He also traveled throughout the world as a director of the Selection Assistance Team (SAT) to determine the survival fitness of officers for deployment to UN peacekeeping missions in war zones.

While teaching in Bosnia, Bob developed a class, “Body Signs of Confrontationâ€, to help officers from all nations understand what was being said by body gestures. This program met with such success, NATO commanders from numerous countries asked Bob to present this class to their officers. The program was also videotaped for future use by the UN and NATO. Upon return to the United States, this presentation evolved into the book and training class, The Unspoken Dialogue. This curriculum was highlighted when he taught mediation and negotiations at the Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping Institute and Northwestern University.

In Kosovo, Bob was assigned to the Police Training Center in Pristina, where he taught the incoming officers from over 60 countries. Classes included use of force, officer survival, criminal justice, weapons proficiency, interrogation and, of course, body signs of confrontation.

As a senior SAT officer, Bob traveled to Ukraine, Ghana, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Jordan, Turkey, Spain, Senegal, Russia, and the Czech Republic to test police officers for deployment to UN missions in war zones and conflict areas around the world.

Bob was also part of the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Effort, performing surveillance and enforcement under the authority of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Department as a sworn deputy sheriff.

Bob was a resident instructor at the Specialized Advanced Training Unit of the High Institute of Baghdad Police College, Iraq, and has received numerous other awards for his work in the international community from many countries around the world.

Bob has finished his fifth book, Surviving the International War Zone, and is presently teaching and sharing the knowledge he has been so fortunate to have been given by so many of his colleagues throughout his career. He is a frequent contributor to television and radio programs, and periodicals. Bob conducts both training and consulting services for state and federal agencies, international governments, universities and corporations worldwide. He is also working with both active and returning military/police officers dealing with post incident stress.