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TSA's new security strategy

AJB37

Well-Known Member
My point was the media likes to make shit up and assume crap, so an applicant for SWO becomes an F/A 18 pilot.

My ability to understand what people mean on the internet has really gone down recently... I'm a little worried about myself.:(
 

Picaroon

Helos
pilot
PHX sucks. In fairness, it wasn't really the TSA folks fault, at least at the checkpoint level. I waited in line for an hour and a half at security because they only had 1 line open for several hundred people. The guy working the gate can only work so fast, no matter how stupid his job is.

The airport itself is just generally a clusterfuck.
Really? I've flown out of there at least 7 times and only once was I held up by security, normally I wait like 5-15 minutes to go through.

Again, just my experience. Maybe I'm lucky :icon_smil

edit: Why is my sunglasses smiley a devil?
edit: AJB aren't you also the guy who pointed out that the guy at Wal Mart post was faked? You're on a roll :)
 

Flugelman

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Really? I've flown out of there at least 7 times and only once was I held up by security, normally I wait like 5-15 minutes to go through.

Again, just my experience. Maybe I'm lucky :icon_smil

edit: Why is my sunglasses smiley a devil?
edit: AJB aren't you also the guy who pointed out that the guy at Wal Mart post was faked? You're on a roll :)

OK, I'll complete the threadjack... I get the same thing sometimes with a few of the emoticons. Not sure why, just too lazy to do anything about it. I suspect it's a line of code somewhere that has bad pointers but again, ain't no biggie. Websan???

/end threadjack
 

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
Generally speaking, the American traveling public is stupid. Then again, generally speaking, the American public as a whole is stupid. One would HAVE to be stupid to believe the out of breath 350lb shit-head with drool on his collar is doing anyone any good. Is that judgmental? Absolutely. I greatly resent the fact that these morons take themselves so f'ing seriously. They're a joke and until the government is serious about air security and serious enough about it to spend money on it, it'll remain a joke.

I've posted it here before and it still holds true. Until cell phones (or any other transmitting device) are banned from the cabin - you'll never be "safe" from a determined terrorist.

I flew out of Norfolk last year and had quite a bit of time in line to watch the TSA operation there. It took me all of about two minutes to realize that they were pulling every fourth person out of line for further inspection. The girl operating the scanning machine was texting on her cell phone. As luck would have it, I was pulled for further searching. While being patted down I asked for the supervisor and pointed out to him that I had been able to quickly identify the pattern. If I had any malice intent I would have just positioned myself in line so that my bag was only inspected once. Once by the dumbass texting from behind the scanner.

For future reference. Do Not Do This. TSA hates being told they're fucked up. I almost missed my flight because I got to then play twenty questions with more TSA shitheads and local law enforcement.

If they're former military, good thing for us they're "former". I wouldn't allow 95% of the TSA employees I've encountered to handle a set of chocks.

I hadn't posted here in a long time, but this topic drives my blood pressure through the roof.:icon_rage
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Then why x-ray them only after they set off the metal detector? Sorry, that is totally counterintuitive.
It was because you didn't take them off first. Remeber, you are exempt and chose not to remove them. The rest of the public must take them off, partially for that reason.


I have been around long enough to know when someone is being a bitch simply because they can, and when someone is just trying to do a good job. This was the former. She thought it was funny to humiliate a member of the military in public. No, I don't feel better about it.

The funny think is that this was only one of three examples of TSA SNAFUs while I was on one trip. In Memphis, I made it all the way through security with a boarding pass to San Diego with the name "Stephen Smith" on it. My name is not even close to Stephen Smith, and I was flying to Colorado Springs. Neither of the 2 TSA agents who checked the pass against my Military ID noticed that the names did not match. Don't ask me how I got Mr. Smith's boarding pass, I don't know. My best guess is that it was stuck in the self service machine at the check in counter and I got it by mistake and left my pass behind.

The other one is pretty minor, but stuck out in my mind due to the screw up in Memphis. The first agent that checked my ID and boarding pass in Portland was checking the passes with her left hand and sending a text message on her cell phone with her right hand. I am sure that she was REALLY focused on her job, and her supervisor was obviously really focused on her.

Feel worse?
I wasn't present at any of these occurrences and trust you are accurate in your description. Practically all the same has happened to me before, including accidentally taking handgun ammunition through security at DCA and getting away with it. My intention is certainly not to defend any given idiotic or irresponsible act. As a group, however, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. Most are OK.

And what is wrong with giving the impression of security, true or not. Ever hear of someone putting up a "Beware of Dog" sign and they have no dog, or the fake "Patrolled by Vigilant Security" signs in their yards? But of course it isn't just an impression. Though far from perfect they do catch thousands of weapons a year and many very very suspicious articles that are believed to be probes by terrorists. Just because you guys have a TS clearance does not mean you read everything out there. "Need to know" ring a bell with any of you. Tell you what, I since I don't have a TS clearance or access any more, I will not question you guys on anything related to classified military information. In return, you take my word for it. There still is a threat and the TSA is finding evidence of it frequently. Even Deputy Fife caught a bad guy from time to time. The very incompetence of the TSA adds a variable to plannig any terrorist plot against civil aviation. Remember what the Soviets said about the US during the Cold War? It was impossible to plan a military operation against US forces because although we had doctrine, no one followed it.
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
...until the government is serious about air security and serious enough about it to spend money on it, it'll remain a joke.
They spend a shit load of money on it. The issue is where and how you spend the money. We don't need to spend more. We need to spend it more wisely. I am not about to give the feds, let alone TSA, a blank check in the name of anything, even near perfect security.
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
One would HAVE to be stupid to believe the out of breath 350lb shit-head with drool on his collar is doing anyone any good.

I think it is stupid to believe that anyone's weight, hair style or grammar has anything to do with how effective they can be at analyzing an X-ray image, IF well trained and supervised. I think it would be stupid to hire only people that can fill out a uniform like a 20 year old boot from Paris Island. If you look at a trim serious but polite young person in a fine uniform with perfect hair and clean shaved chin and assume he knows what he is looking for on your ID or travel documents without any other evidence, then you are stupid. I am very sorry that the fact that some TSA screeners take themselves seriously makes you so angry. Is it ok for them to take themselves seriously, but not run you through secondary screening or pick every fourth guy for secondary, or is it only unacceptable to take themselves seriously when they ask you to take your belt off?

Just for reference, the political pressure to avoid profiling has led many officials to define random as picking out a playing card from deck and then picking people in line that correspond to that number card. Therefor not truly random and not likely the choice of the people you dealt with that day.
 

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
"The very incompetence of the TSA adds a variable"

Seriously? (insert high pitched sarcastic tone)

The TS clearance has got nothing to do with this conversation. Its a matter of common sense. Is TSA trying their best? Sure. So is my dog, but he still shit in the house this morning. The Govt must demand MORE of its money. If you bought an appliance and it worked as poorly as the TSA you'd want a refund wouldn't you?

I certainly didn't intend to imply MORE money needed to be spent. MORE needs to be demanded of the money being spent.

To your point about appearance. Its a matter of professionalism. Never did anything I write imply that a sharply dressed individual knows his job better than a slob. But if these people want to be treated with more respect and be questioned less, a professional appearance sure a'int a bad place to start. For the record the woman texting from behind the scanner in Norfolk was not "out of breath", "350lbs", nor did she "have drool on her collar." She was thin and neatly dressed. I suppose I'm still stupid though?

All too quickly I'm reminded why I "left" the forum for so long.
 

Harrier Dude

Living the dream
....including accidentally taking handgun ammunition through security ...

The last time I was at PHX, I sat next to a lady who was with her 15 year old daughter, and 17 year old son. Nobody looked very happy, especially the son. He was clearly in a lot of trouble with his Mom. We were all there to drop off our underage children (my 9 year old and her 15 year old), so Junior, the Mom, and me were all stuck waiting for the plane to actually take off. You aren't allowed to leave until they do.

After I talked to them a little, she (the Mom) told me their tale of woe.

Evidently Junior thought it would be funny to stash "a bullet" (her word) in Sis's backpack for TSA to find. It worked. To use his words, TSA "Totally flipped out".

She told me she was detained, questioned and harrassed by TSA over this bullet for nearly an hour. I asked if she still had it, and if I could see it. I'm kind of surprised they let her keep it after all of that, but they did.

It was, in fact, just a bullet. Not a round. Not live ammo. No explosives whatsoever. Just a small pointy piece of metal. That's it.

What possible damage could that thing have caused? FOD? What was she going to do? Wind up and throw it at somebody?

Can't there be just a little sense and proportion applied to this process?
 

Pugs

Back from the range
None
For future reference. Do Not Do This. TSA hates being told they're fucked up.

Asked for a supervisor a couple months ago at Lindbergh to ask why the woman who was supposed to be checking tickets was heads down in a paperback book. He was not pleased but did go and correct the situation. Well, for the time I watched anyway.

TSA is a facade and it makes me hate to go to the airport anymore. I used to enjoy travel.
 

mb1k

Yep. The clock says, "MAN TIME".
pilot
None
TSA is a facade and it makes me hate to go to the airport anymore. I used to enjoy travel.

My sentiments exactly. I only fly when I have to; meaning when the family and I have to visit the inlaws in New England. The Corpus to Hartford drive would be insanity. But, if I'm solo and going TDY, I'll drive. I drove regularly from Louisiana to Vegas. TSA and crowded jets were about 80% of the deciding factor. Having your own car to use and freedom for a 3-week FLAG were the remaining 20%. Nothing like getting stuck in a carpool with 3 other swinging dicks wanting to go to the same lame restaurants night after night to motivate you to make that road trip...
 

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
"The very incompetence of the TSA adds a variable"

Seriously? (insert high pitched sarcastic tone).
Yes I am. I didn't mean to imply they fain incompetence for tactical reasons, but my comment is true. If you don't see that then you don't know much about how our enemy plans and executes it's plans.


The TS clearance has got nothing to do with this conversation. Its a matter of common sense. Is TSA trying their best? Sure. So is my dog, but he still shit in the house this morning.
Then you missed the point I was making about my clearance versus yours. Maybe you should spend more time training your dog.

I certainly didn't intend to imply MORE money needed to be spent. MORE needs to be demanded of the money being spent.
On this we agree and I would add it goes for the entire government and TSA is not the worst offender.


All too quickly I'm reminded why I "left" the forum for so long.
Good bye then.
 

LazersGoPEWPEW

4500rpm
Contributor
I have a beef about them too. They get paid way TOO much to do way too little.

But I affirm that TSA is simply a hoop you have to jump through. If you have an issue with them get their name and go up the ladder and make sure you tell them that you're going up the ladder.

They're not hard to replace.
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
The last time I was at PHX, I sat next to a lady who was with her 15 year old daughter, and 17 year old son. Nobody looked very happy, especially the son. He was clearly in a lot of trouble with his Mom. We were all there to drop off our underage children (my 9 year old and her 15 year old), so Junior, the Mom, and me were all stuck waiting for the plane to actually take off. You aren't allowed to leave until they do.

After I talked to them a little, she (the Mom) told me their tale of woe.

Evidently Junior thought it would be funny to stash "a bullet" (her word) in Sis's backpack for TSA to find. It worked. To use his words, TSA "Totally flipped out".

She told me she was detained, questioned and harrassed by TSA over this bullet for nearly an hour. I asked if she still had it, and if I could see it. I'm kind of surprised they let her keep it after all of that, but they did.

It was, in fact, just a bullet. Not a round. Not live ammo. No explosives whatsoever. Just a small pointy piece of metal. That's it.

What possible damage could that thing have caused? FOD? What was she going to do? Wind up and throw it at somebody?

Can't there be just a little sense and proportion applied to this process?

This reminds me of the time when on the first day at our new school, my brother was being interrogated by the headmaster and subsequently suspended for having a baggie of mint in his backpack. Mint.

People can be so obtuse sometimes. And by obtuse, I mean friggin retarded.
 
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