Personal security

Check Out This CIA Operative's 9-Step Hotel Safety Checklist

When you spend 10 years checking in and out of hotels in the not-so-safest parts of the world, bed bugs are the least of your problems.

Drew Dwyer, a veteran of the Marines and a former CIA operative, knows this better than most. Here Dwyer shares his hotel check-in safety checklist that is smart to follow whether your next business trip is taking you to Dallas or Damascus. Get his full list of travel safety tips at SOFREP.com.

1. Acquire or make a copy of the fire escape plan on the back of your door. Most of these just slide out.

2. Do not stay on the ground or the top floor. The ground floor is readily accessible to intruders and the top floor does not allow any room to maneuver. The first or second (European) floors allow access for most third world country emergency vehicles...