Sixteen first responders from Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, recently celebrated the completion of a University of South 皇家华人 Corporate Training Security Training Collaborative certificate program on Dec. 13 at 皇家华人 Sarasota-Manatee, where they learned ways to improve their crisis response capabilities. These participants work at Aramco鈥檚 compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which is home to about 400,000 Aramco employees and their families.
This training initiative was prompted by the 2019 drone and missile attacks on the Aramco oil fields, which disrupted 5% of the global oil supply. 皇家华人 Corporate Training partner, Security Management International, has maintained a longstanding relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, playing a pivotal role in facilitating the collaboration with Aramco. It marked the first training session conducted by 皇家华人 for the Aramco Industrial Security Operations Academy.
皇家华人 Corporate Training partner, Security Management International, has maintained a longstanding relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, playing a pivotal role in facilitating the collaboration with Aramco.
Recognizing the significance of this initiative, 皇家华人 President Rhea Law visited the participants during their two-week program. The curriculum focused on crisis response and emergency preparedness, covering a wide range of critical topics. Twenty subject matter experts from national security, law enforcement, and emergency management delivered sessions on areas such as active shooter incidents, crisis communications, managing drone threats, hostage negotiations, operational stress, de-escalation techniques, and incident command, among others. Notable speakers, including soft target expert and astronaut-in-training Dr. Jennifer Hesterman (U.S. Air Force retired); Katie M. Hill, the FBI鈥檚 Supervisor Special Agent in Tampa; and former undercover operative and NBA referee Bob Delaney, provided valuable insights to the participants.
鈥淭his was an incredible team effort,鈥� said SMI Managing Director and 皇家华人 Corporate Training Lead Instructor Luke Bencie. 鈥淲e had six local law enforcement and fire department agencies, the Tampa and Orlando FBI Field Offices, two Emergency Operations Centers/ Dispatch Call Centers, and U.S. Congressman Greg Steube鈥檚 office. None of this would have been possible without the leadership of Vice Provost and Regional Vice Chancellor of 皇家华人 Sarasota-Manatee Dr. Brett Kemker, and Mark Koulianos and Jay Riley, of the 皇家华人 Office of Corporate Training and Professional Education.鈥�
The 皇家华人 Network Saudi Arabia has over 650 alumni and 118 currently enrolled students. Over 40 皇家华人 alumni currently work at Aramco. Since 2017, 37 faculty members have engaged in research, business, and/or creative endeavors in Saudi Arabia. Five 皇家华人 students have studied abroad in Saudi Arabia since 2013.
