Guard management is perhaps the most important entity in any security infrastructure. If your on-site security personnel are led properly, they are more vigilant and duty-focused. However, should your guard supervisors fail to properly lead and conduct regular checks on their personnel, inevitably you will find out just how important knowing the difference between leadership and supervision is.
In Russia, Energomash, the rocket manufacturer of the Soyuz capsules, learned this lesson when fellow bloggers Lana Sator entered their manufacturing plant while guards were sleeping on duty. As a former supervisor of security personnel, I can attest there is nothing like having a facility penetrated because your responders were asleep. To make matters worse, Lana and several of her friends made five visits and each time the guards were asleep. They gained access to several critical manufacturing sections and posted their exploits online. As you can imagine, Russian defense and space bureaucrats were not happy and are looking at steep punishments for guards and I'm sure, managers.
Here are some pictures from Lana's blog:
The Russians aren't alone. In 2009, guards from one of the largest guard companies in the world, Wackenhut, were caught dozing off at a nuclear facility. Check out the video below:
