The AISB security team consists of many highly professional individuals with a variety of previous roles and experience. We discovered that some were private contractors in Afghanistan, some have decades of martial arts experience, and they all love their families. By the nature of the job, security is often meant to be in the background and not seen, but The Bite wanted to find out how some of the guards got here and what their lives outside of AISB are like. Here are short profiles of four AISB security guards.
Dan C. first started by training in combat sports like boxing, with the dream of becoming a police officer. When Ciobanu was 22, he finished his athletic career and was recruited by the Romanian Special Forces to help keep people safe during the revolution. From 2008-2013 Ciobanu was a private contractor in Afghanistan where he witnessed life-changing events.
I saw a lot. Young girls had their faces burnt with acid by the Taliban and I couldn’t do anything about it. It made me want to fight harder.
Dan C.
Ciobanu is now 57 years old, giving him three-and-a-half decades of experience in physical combat and security. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has both a child and a nephew. Family is the most important thing in life to Ciobanu, and he claims without family there is nothing. Ciobanu has a great relationship with many students and has affectionately been given the nickname ‘Big Dan.’
Viorel P. first gained interest in the security industry after finishing his athletic career, where he was a kayak champion. He first started working in the field in 1983, when he was a team leader in Romania’s anti-terrorist scuba diving special forces.
He recalls bringing some of this training and experience to his role at AISBs about five years ago when there was a bomb threat.
In his free time, Polosocer likes listening to classical music and practicing combat sports.
Flavius O. first gained interest in the field of security in high school where he practiced self-defense. Later, he started practicing karate and team boxing. Before coming to work at AISB, Oancea was a bouncer at a club in downtown Bucharest. During his time as a bouncer, Oancea regularly dealt with intoxicated people, where he had to be peaceful and try to negotiate with them to calm down.
Outside of school, Oancea enjoys traveling and loves going on hikes in the mountains. He lives with his girlfriend and frequently visits his mom.
The AISB security team is full of kind, brave, and good people. This was immediately evident during the interviews for this article when they were extremely kind and welcoming; but we can also see it every day when they interact with our community with care and professionalism. Although their jobs and backgrounds might make them seem scary, they are all humans who have families they love and live a normal life outside of their job.