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Regular Joe
 
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Last Login: 10/1/2008 7:49 PM
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| While I am glad there are good people trying to help out with security initiatives here at the home front... You are going to have a tough time convincing me that the TSA is anything other than a farsical organization that is a further money drain on our great country. In Denver, we have switched from relatively untrained, unskilled foreign workers, to mostly those same workers in a federalized uniform shirt. And we have a sprinkling of morbidly over-weight, mostly disabled, caucasian types in the mix as well. Federalized. Unarmed ("STOP! Or I'll say STOP again!!). Knee-jerk reactionary policies. And they tout themselves as the "first line of defense" and all the rah-rah. Don't get me wrong, if they're going to pay you a good wage, by all means, I hope you get it, and maintain some military bearing and standards. I think we could spend the same amount of money and put a trained armed force on the front lines and have better results. My two cents only...most likely a product of my frustration. The need is certainly great for an organization such as this, I feel that it is not being empowered, equipped, and staffed in order to accomplish the objective. I do not mean to imply there are not great people within the organization - only that the constraints are greater than the benefit. And I submit this as my sole opinion.
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Air Force Liaison/P.Net Original Cast of Characters
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| Ah Dfiremann, maintaining good military bearing in a non-military job is a placing said individuals in jeporady. I think I look rather non-military in this pose eh? 
Flight 93 Memorial rock placed by Federal Air Marshal Service.
LOAD CLEAR! LOAD CLEAR! To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. Elbert Hubbard
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Masters of Hard Knocks from the University of Gravity
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Dfiremann (4/22/2008)
While I am glad there are good people trying to help out with security initiatives here at the home front...
You are going to have a tough time convincing me that the TSA is anything other than a farsical organization that is a further money drain on our great country.
In Denver, we have switched from relatively untrained, unskilled foreign workers, to mostly those same workers in a federalized uniform shirt. And we have a sprinkling of morbidly over-weight, mostly disabled, caucasian types in the mix as well.
Federalized. Unarmed ("STOP! Or I'll say STOP again!!). Knee-jerk reactionary policies.
And they tout themselves as the "first line of defense" and all the rah-rah.
Don't get me wrong, if theyre going to pay you a good wage, by all means, I hope you get it, and maintain some military bearing and standards.
I think we could spend the same amount of money and put a trained armed force on the front lines and have better results.
My two cents only...
Well if your going to make the assessment that the government is throwing away money with TSA then about half of what our government does is exactly that.
I see you don't have a Bio posted so my first request is that you do so. And yes I have read your intro.
So you should also recognize that many of the things that our government does it not about actual security but about the impression of security. Not against the bad guys but so that the public has some confidence.
What about flying CAPs over the cities. And no fly zones around major sports stadiums. Well the no fly zone is 5 miles. The CAPs are 25 miles away. You want to bet I can violate the no fly zone, disregard the 2 minutes of mad calls from the FAA, the slow decision making of a supervisor to alert the CAP that I can get my slow ass cessna to hit some stadium. Of course I can. Oh and even if the CAP does catch up to me. You think that they are really going to shoot me down over downtown Denver, Chicago, New York, Boston, or any other major city. Of course not.
So the entire concept of flying CAPs and no fly zones is a joke. How many millions of dollars in fuel, maintenance, crew costs, spare parts and such do you think that costs us.
Do you really think that the Avenger Battalion that is deployed around DC is going to get missile release to shoot down a 777 because it crossed the river into the no fly zone. Well they might try to at the last second if the target was the WH (and the president was in residence). However, it would cause more damage if it were then if it hit the ground. So are the missile batteries really there for security.
My point is that much of what we they do is not to provide security as much as it is to try and maintain the publics confidence that our government is really doing something.
You won't get any of that money funneled back into the military. If they did away with TSA you can sure as heck bet your next paycheck that the money would get funneled into one of the liberal pet projects and never go any where near security.
"Si Vis Pacum Para Bellum"
If you want peace prepare for war!
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Regular Joe
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| Interesting points, all of them. We will agree on some and disagree on others. The impression of security. Great concept- a psychological operation. Let me see, if I am average joe terror-monkey casing an airport for a hit "...I see an overwight screener with a bad limp, two others of decent that looks friendly to me, and a handful of others...all unarmed, and none look like they could run 100 meters to save their life...oh yeah, this job is going to easy..." You have made my point exactly. If you want to make it the impression of security, let us do that. Do not hand out a new shirt to someone who doesn't speak english well, or somebody who uses 350 pounds to stretch it to the limit. Or better yet, lets have fewer people, paid a better wage, that have vetted clearances, and are armed. I cannot count how many international airports where I see small roving patrols armed with SAW or greater weaponry and a K-9 unit. Even if these security folks are on profile...I perceive it as security I don't want to mess with. Now please excuse me while I go remove my boots for Habib. He is screening me today, and even though I am flying in uniform, have a current and valid military ID, and orders in hand, there was a single shoe attempt in England years ago, I will have to remove my boots. The pinnacle of reaction. If I had a grudge, I have no doubt I could make the middle of the terminal with my bomb by simply running right by them. I am not talking about a complex hit, just a speed/surprise op. Mix in a K-9 and a SAW, I rethink my approach. It pains me to see here, amongst such excellence, this TSA talk. That is all. My hope are that paratroopers going into this organization mayhap can effect a change. Transform it into a security force, rather than a federalized welfare program.
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Seasoned Vet
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True, in Europe and especially Israel the Airline or Airport Security is really security and not a bad joke. But than again I guess if you ever had an attack at one of your terminals as had happened in Athens and several other european countries much less the middle east then you beef up your security to be a real deterent not a paper tiger that picks on little old ladies and uniformed service members because they are too lazy or scarred of being sued to confront anyone with an ethnicity that matches that of 90% of the world's terrorists,,,go figure. TSA is for the most part a joke and as has been stated a social welfare program to give jobs to otherwise unemployable people whose sole positive character trait is that they are patient enough to manuver through the Byzantine hiring process, jump through the appropriate hoops and score that "Guvmint" retirement job. I honestly feel that Ray Charles as blind and dead as he is now would be a more effective TSA employee than most of the deadwood working there now, but that's just my observation from traveling through and being around the Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, your milage may vary.
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| considering Im the guy who is usually going nuts when we have 350lb+ cops who complain about conditions this TSA discussion is just as irritating. frankly I think those in security jobs like these... need to pass physical standards testing periodically. Some of the PD in and around Chicago looks like they couldnt run down a perp unless the perp was equally as rotund. Now, TSA doesnt have to do too much running down but I sure do believe they should be trained properly to handle an issue should it occur. The one or two actual officers that roam the security areas where TSA works are hardly the force necessary should something really happen. Its like most things in the US. Someone overweight will cry about equal rights etc etc and rather than pointing out that your ability to actually DO the job is the KEY to employment we cave. Then when someone unqualified gets hurt or fails to accomplish what needs to be done then we complain and make excuses. PAY the TSA and even FAM services and set REAL standards, dont accept anything less and demand maintenance of that standard in order to retain employment. Ultimately you'll attract serious candidates who can accomplish the job.
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Site Owner/Operator
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| BTW... I think we all know that every single one of us with even a modest military background could come up with and point out the exploitable holes in our security. I drove a limo for 6 months when I was under-employed and spent a lot of time doing pickups at Ohare and Midway and let me tell you... you dont have to get ANYWHERE near an airplane or a TSA agent to do a WORLD of damage to a LOT of people and you'd be able to do it with so little effort it is almost scary. If the enemy is here on our soil and if they can lay hands on a few components there are more than enough ways to exploit terrorist concepts. Id park a few things I have just thought about while stuck in Chicago traffic here but I am certainly not going to publicly post possibliities even if I think they're pretty easy for anyone to come up with.
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