Real Life Reacher

By Tim Keck

The boy looked scared. 

He was surrounded by other members of his village, but he was the only one carrying what appeared to be explosives. No one wanted to shoot this young man, so Staff Sergent Monte Mills left the protection of his Humvee to get a closer look. The scene was chaotic with people shouting in a language Monte didn’t understand. He saw the frightened expression on everyone’s faces and knew he had to decide. His gut told him he could de-escalate this situation and avoid the use of force. 

He moved within 15 feet of the boy and confirmed that he was wearing a vest filled with BLU-62 cluster bombs. That was enough to kill everyone nearby, including Staff Sergeant Mills. An older man who spoke broken English stepped up and explained that the boy was forced to wear the bombs. Monte summoned help and got the explosives removed. He trusted the man because his instincts told him to. That decision not only resulted in the avoidance of bloodshed, but the budding of a relationship that would save countless lives. 

Staff Sergeant Monte Mills, a Military Police squad leader and member of the 302^nd MP Company received the Meritorious Service Award for his actions that day, which also resulted in the recovery of nine Anti-Tank Guided Missiles meant for killing Americans and the arrest of a known terrorist leader before he struck. 

Monte Mills and his team protected people without firing a single shot. He’s been doing that ever since. 

After separating from the Army, Monte was unsure what to do. As a former MP with combat experience, he could relate to the Jack Reacher character from author Lee Child’s novels. Both were big men. Both loved music and hated bad guys. But while a big fan of the character, Monte knew he would never be a nomad. He valued family too much. He just had to find a way to protect people in civilian life. 

So, Monte accepted a job protecting the offices and staff of a well-known financial group. While successful, he was not fulfilled. That’s when he learned that a former police officer turned Threat Management expert named Doug Elms was leaving the world’s biggest company to start a boutique security business. 

Monte met with Doug and learned that the vision for SafeHaven Security Group was to bring Threat Management and world-class protection to everyone. Why should billionaires and big business be the only ones to take advantage of this methodology? Doug inspired Monte with his vision, but this was a start-up. There was only one client on the books and no money to hire another leader. 

Monte showed up in the tiny SafeHaven Security Group office a few days later and the conversation went as follows:

Monte: I work for you now.

Doug: But I can’t pay you.

Monte: Then I will work for free.

And work for free he did. For six months Monte worked without compensation to build the business, gaining new clients, and adding carefully selected security professionals and investigators. SafeHaven has now grown to serve dozens of clients across several states, with hundreds of employees. Their work includes uniform security at manufacturing facilities, training companies in active shooter prevention, and close protection for VIP’s and celebrities. 

Under Doug’s leadership as founder of SafeHaven Security Group, Monte has put together his own version of Reacher’s “Special Investigators.”  The SafeHaven roster includes former members of the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. State Department Diplomatic Security, Chief Security Officers from Multi-National Corporations, Police Chiefs, Authors, Speakers, and even a U.S. Marshall. Each with ample experience managing threats and keeping people safe. 

If you want the people in your organization to both feel safe and be safe from things like theft, vandalism, and violence, Monte and the professionals at SafeHaven Security Group want to partner with you. Let us use “ThreatShield 5™, our proprietary version of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management, to assess your vulnerabilities and help you prevent problems before they happen. 

What’s our success rate in avoiding or preventing violence? It is 100%. That’s correct; once we have gotten involved in a threatening situation, we have successfully de-escalated the problem every single time. 

Because nobody messes with the special investigators – or the people they protect.