The Brief
A Blue-chip Fortune 100 US corporation with a significant footprint in the GCC engaged CGT Security Services to provide overland vehicle road evacuation for its corporate staff and their families. Amid escalating hostilities between Iran and US-allied nations, with ballistic missile and drone activity affecting the region, airspace closures in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Kuwait were impacted from time to time, resulting in corporate staff requiring emergency ground evacuation due to regional security concerns and changing daily commercial flight restrictions. They required an overland evacuation from Doha to Riyadh.
The Challenge
As regional hostilities escalated rapidly across the GCC, the client’s internal security lacked the regional networks and capacity to manage such a scale, leaving them unable to execute their contingency plans effectively to evacuate non-essential staff in the early stages of the crisis. This left corporate personnel with the decision to shelter in place or evacuate overland from Qatar in the GCC. While some chose the shelter-in-place (SIP) contingency plan, others opted for overland evacuation and CGT Security Services were asked to plan, coordinate, and execute a full ground evacuation across multiple jurisdictions with immediate effect.
Our Response
CGT Security Services was engaged to help execute these land evacuations, with the first 24 hours proving crucial for putting in place the necessary transportation and personnel required for such an operation.
Planning & Structure: Our operations team immediately began staging resources, preparing the technology (monitoring, tracking, reporting), and developing the communications plan. With an operations readiness plan activated and fine-tuned, moving into the second 24hr period, liaising with the corporate points of contact (POCs), structuring the embarkation points, getting passengers to the start point, and conducting documentation checks enabled the initial mobilisation of passengers to the start point as quickly as possible to take full advantage of the daylight hours, aware of the remote route into Saudi Arabia towards Riyadh.
Close Protection Officers: Four close protection officers were on the ground, travelling with the groups. There were three GMC SUVs providing security overwatch, one for each passenger coach. Each SUV had one security-trained driver and a CPO. The CPOs had several roles to perform: first, serving as the security situational-awareness eyes and ears on the ground during transit; and second, coordinating, liaising, and reassuring the groups through the immigration process on both sides of the border crossing. The CPO contingent had to carry out a route recce from their respective hotels once the passengers had been checked in and secured for the night. All of which was reported to the client via the OPS team in Dubai.
As part of contingency planning, both vehicles and CPOs remained in place until we had a confirmed “wheels-up” for the flights, in case of any airspace closure or flight cancellations.
Safe Ground Transportation: Availability of transport can immediately become the first challenge in areas of escalating threat, given the number of companies making similar decisions to evacuate their people. We instantly deployed a convoy of secure ground transport, including 50-seater coaches, along with one travelling empty to provide a breakdown contingency, and a secondary route was planned as part of the op’s readiness plan.
With border delays pushing arrival windows into late-night hours, increasing fatigue, two drivers per coach were standard operating procedure, and the driver and CPO could swap out for short periods. Having the vehicle in place for rejection contingencies at the border crossing to evacuate back to Doha proved effective in keeping the process moving forward without delay or the need to strip out security resources for a possible return trip.
Oversight: Two operational management personnel provided oversight and advice to both on-the-ground personnel and the client via telephone/WhatsApp at any one time. This was done from the Dubai office location.
24/7 GSOC Coordination: Two watchkeepers in the GSOC monitored 24/7, feeding progress reports to the Ops team in Dubai via secure communications. Progress on the route was monitored via phone trackers and live location on WhatsApp, and by telephone conversations when specific details were required, particularly regarding immigration rejections and the need to inform the client of specifics and any changes implemented along the way.
Border Management: Two border crossings managed. Each driver and CPO had a smartphone tracking app that reported to our 24/7 Global Security Operations Centre in Dubai, which oversaw the vehicles as they were ushered, on their own and empty, to a pickup point. All passengers had to disembark with their luggage, which was scanned by customs. The CPOs accompanied the parties to the exit and coordinated embarkation and headcount for each coach at both Qatari and Saudi border posts.
Medical Preparedness: With close protection officers and CGT personnel all medically trained and briefed to respond to medical emergencies en route, along with emergency medical kits carried in the SUV convoy, the evacuees were in safe hands, with no medical emergencies reported.
The Outcome
CGT Security Services ensured the safe and successful transfer of over 140 passengers, including adults, teenagers, and small children. The operation took 13 hours and covered 620km from Doha City to Riyadh, via the Abu Samra/Salwa border crossing, travelling North to Al Hofuf, then West to Riyadh via Khurais. An overnight stay in Riyadh, followed by a short journey to the airport for drop-off, resulted in a successful departure from the Gulf region for all evacuees.
What This Demonstrates
Following this successful operation, the client engaged CGT for further evacuation support, reflecting the trust built through delivery under pressure.
Our extensive network of resources across the region was key to piecing together solutions that work not only within the countries themselves but also to activate effective transit across multiple GCC borders at short notice and in constantly changing environments, ensuring reliable support wherever needed.
CGT maintains continuous operational capability across the GCC through transport networks, vetted personnel, GSOC capabilities, and border-crossing protocols – serving as a standing resource. Our teams are not deploying from overseas. They are already here.
For organisations looking to understand how professional evacuation frameworks are structured and when to activate them, read our guide to emergency extraction in security operations.
To discuss evacuation planning for your organisation, contact CGT Security Services on +971(0) 4 313 2046. All enquiries handled in strict confidence.
