Meeting "Jack Bauer"

For those of you that don't know Jack Bauer, he is the main character to my favorite show, "24." Lately, though, I think "Prison Break" is giving it a run for its money.

Anyway, on my trip to Vegas, a nice gentleman sat in my row. No one was in between us. As much as I tried to act "busy" reading my magazine, he still managed to strike up a conversation with me. We got onto the subject of work. I always try not to say where I work because people are more interested in that vs getting to know me as a person. So, whenever anyone asks, I say I'm just an accountant.

So, in turn, I posed the question as well. He said he does security. Security, huh? That peaked my interest. So, I asked if he worked with security guards and he said no...higher up, with a smug look. At that point, I stopped delving in.

He mentioned staying at the Durant Hotel and I mentioned the hostage situation that occurred there, that my friends were involved in while I was in college. I began to bash the media for their lack of judgment filming the SWAT team as they came in to rescue the students. At that point he mentions how he uses that situation in his lectures when discussing how not to handle a hostage situation.

Wait a minute! Who is this guy? I couldn't hold my curiousity and started firing off questions. It turns out he's got a whole line of credentials:

• Delta Force
• FBI Hostage Rescue Team
• CIA Counter-Terrorism Center
• White House Staff
• DOT
• DoD
• and an advisor for Denzel's movie "The Siege"

He's the president of this company whose clients range from: The Statue of Liberty, The Super Bowl, the Pentagon, BART, and a whole slew of Police departments and Government Agencies.

I was able to question him on some of my safety concerns and he told me some interesting facts about how they are keeping up with Al Qaeda. Of course, nothing top secret but I'll still refrain from disclosing them here. I had to quit asking him questions because I started freaking out. But just a tip guys: stay away from Vegas and New York on New Year's. Not this one in particular but New Years in general.

Check out this list of CNN interviews that he's done the past few years. In fact, he was scheduled to do a CNN interview, regarding the Jordan Hotel bombings, upon touching down in Vegas.

And the one question I had to ask him was how accurate is "24." He practically laughed in my face and told me how he hates that show. Oh well...it's great entertainment.