Thank You FAA and Norman Manetta

[MolaKule]

Thought you might want to know about your air security system.

quote:

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Report catalogues problems in air marshals service
USA Today 08/31/04
author: Mimi Hall
(Copyright 2004)


WASHINGTON -- Federal air marshals have slept on the job, tested positive for alcohol or drugs while on duty, lost their weapons and falsified information, the Homeland Security Department's inspector general said Monday in a scathing report on the air marshals program.

The government logged 753 incidents of misconduct by air marshals during an eight-month period in 2002, according to the report. The report criticizes the undercover program as being too lenient on officers involved in misconduct. Most were placed on leave with pay after the incidents.

"In many cases, air marshals were placed on administrative leave for extended periods of time," the report said. "In similar cases, a screener (security checkpoint worker) would have been placed on leave without pay or dismissed."

The report also said 161 applicants to the air marshals program made it through a preliminary step in the hiring process despite problems that included accusations of domestic violence, drunken driving or sexual harassment. None of those applicants wound up being hired, however.

Homeland Security spokesman Brian Doyle said hiring guidelines for the program have since been changed. Even though the applicants were approved for consideration, Doyle said, all were eventually rejected because of concerns about their backgrounds.

Asa Hutchinson, chief of border and transportation security at the department, said new guidelines are also in place to make marshals more accountable.

Parts of the report were blacked out because many details about the air marshals service are classified for security reasons, including the precise number of marshals guarding commercial flights.

Before the Sept. 11 attacks, there were only a few dozen "sky marshals," and they flew mainly on foreign trips. After 9/11, several thousand new marshals were hired to also fly on domestic routes as one of many government efforts to protect against future acts of terrorism.

The armed marshals pose as regular passengers on flights. Their identities and routes are kept secret by the government.

Hutchinson disputed the report's finding that there were 753 disciplinary reports in 2002. He said that those reports were logged over a 22-month period, from 2002 to 2004, and that there were 717 cases.

Further, he wrote in a response to the report that most of the cases were "much less serious, but much more common allegations ... like rude behavior by a (federal air marshal) during the check-in process."

The inspector general's report also questioned why marshals had been given $6.5 million in cash travel advances when they are reimbursed every two weeks under a travel voucher system. The report recommended discontinuing travel advances; the department agreed with that recommendation.

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[Pablo]

Another government crack staff.............

The concept has merit, but they are after all government employees.

 

[labman]

Are these guys really accomplishing anything? I seem to have missed the news reports about them saving lives by preventing a hijacking.

 

[Matt89]

quote:

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they are after all government employees

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Hey, I resemble that remark!

If you only knew how the civilian government employee hiring system works

Let's just say that getting the 'best' candidate for a particluar job is not always easy or even possible.

I think the real issue in this case is anytime you have to rapidly expand your ranks you're going to bring in a lot of people you wouldn't hire in better times. That combined with the 'social engineering' built into the hiring process gets you what we have here with the Air Marshals.

 

[ALS]

I haven't flown on a commercial jet liner since 1997 and could care less if I ever flew again anywhere. I always thought it was me until more and more people around me are driving to their Vacation spots. The one that woke me up is a friend of mine that is a Lieutenant Colonel U.S.M.C and XO of his base refuses to fly on a commercial carrier. Military transport no problem he just hops on and relaxes. When I found out he would not fly commercial I realized I wasn't nuts. When a Marine officer with 26 years in the Corps stops flying commercial you start to take notice that something is wrong.