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Mr. Soppelsa has been providing executive protection
on a global level since 1990. Educated in private schools
in Switzerland, Michael Soppelsa spent one year as
an exchange student in Venezuela and went on to serve
in the French Foreign Legion, Second Parachute Regiment
with a tour in Djibouti, Africa and later in the Swiss
Special Forces as a member of the elite Grenadier Regiment,
specializing in unconventional warfare and guerilla/small
unit tactics.
Mr. Soppelsa was a member on President Aristide’s
protection detail upon his return to Haiti under the
Clinton administration, on Ambassador Bremer’s
protection detail in Iraq as a contractor and he served
as special advisor to President Karzai’s Afghan
Secret Service detail in Afghanistan with extensive
travels throughout the three countries.
Mr. Soppelsa has provided executive protection in
the United States, Europe, Central and South America,
Africa, the Middle East and Asia for high profile clients
from the entertainment and corporate world. His expertise
has often been used to instruct local security teams
in foreign countries and has given him a vast insight
into the variations and difficulties encountered while
providing security in more dynamic and unpredictable
environments.
In addition to protecting many top stars from the
movie industry on foreign trips for over a decade,
Mr. Soppelsa has also repeatedly been team leader for
protective teams on motion picture movie sets exposed
to higher threat levels, such as Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” and
several others filmed on location in Latin America;
he has also served as security consultant during scouting
trips to Africa and other parts of the world.
Mr. Soppelsa frequently attends advanced training
at Dr. Richard Kobetz’s Executive Protection
Institute, Heckler & Koch’s International
Training Division, Colonel Jeff Cooper’s Gunsite
firearms training facility as well as offensive/defensive
driving training programs at BSR and Tony Scotty among
others; he has also undergone extensive tactical team
training during his work on international government
security contracts for the US Department of Defense
and the US Department of State.
Mr Soppelsa holds a Pilot License with Instrument
and Sea Plane ratings as well as a Helicopter Pilot
Rating with High Altitude Training. Mr. Soppelsa
speaks and writes English, German, French and Spanish
fluently
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