Posted on 12/15/2004 5:39:10 AM PST by FairfaxVA
Can you imagine if an al Qaeda bureaucrat had ordered the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists to wear "I heart Osama" T-shirts when they embarked on their murderous flights?
No idiot would send his men on a covert mission wearing clothes that would so blatantly give them away, right?
Wrong. Meet Federal Air Marshal Service Director Thomas Quinn. The man in charge of our in-flight cops, who are supposed to be spying secretly on would-be terrorist hijackers, refuses to allow his employees to dress undercover. Quinn insists that air marshals abide by military-style grooming standards and a rigid business dress policy regardless of weather, time of year or seating arrangement. He wants them to look PROFESSIONAL.
That means collared shirts and sports coats -- even if a pair of marshals is traveling in coach from Los Angeles to Orlando.
As The Washington Times recently reported, Quinn blew his top on Thanksgiving when he spotted nearly 30 marshals at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., in violation of his insipid dress code. Some were reportedly threatened with suspension.
This nonsense has been going on for two years. The result is that the federal government has not made air travel any safer, and is instead endangering the people who are supposed to be protecting us. The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents over 22,000 federal agents including air marshals, notes that civilian passengers have publicly outed marshals on countless flights since the Sept. 11 attacks. Air marshals have recounted receiving thumbs-ups and thanks from travelers nationwide. No doubt al Qaeda's operatives who are surveilling flights are mumbling thanks under their breath, too.
Indeed, on an infamous American Airlines Flight 1438 from Chicago to Miami, two air marshals, dressed conspicuously in their professionally mandated suits, received the following greeting from a passenger walking down the aisle: "Oh, I see we have air marshals on board!"
Another air marshal working out of the Las Vegas field office, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, told the government watchdog group Airline Passengers for Safer Skies (APSS): "Under the current policies of Director Quinn, airline passengers are actually safer flying on aircraft that do not have air marshals on them." Marshals refer darkly to Quinn's dress requirements as the "kill-me-first dress-code policy." The Las Vegas field officer remarked: "If all the passengers know we are carrying the guns on the plane, then so do the terrorists -- we just don't want to get our throats slit."
Quinn's response to critics? Kill the messengers! As online journalist Annie Jacobsen reported in September, the air marshals service threatened to take action against the passenger who pointed out the marshals made vulnerable by Quinn's own dress-code policy. The passenger, Quinn protested, had disclosed "sensitive security information." Meanwhile, according to APSS, Quinn himself participated in a NBC Nightly News segment that revealed classified and sensitive information on marshals' boarding procedures, credentials, equipment and look-out criteria.
Quinn spent two decades at the Secret Service before taking over the air marshals service, which may explain his dangerous fashion taste for the Men in Black uniforms. According to several sources inside the agency, Quinn has used his position to hire several former Secret Service cronies -- who have plenty of experience guarding high-profile politicians and celebrities, but no clue about what it takes to blend in and be effective watchdogs in the air.
There is reportedly a provision in the intelligence reform bill passed last week that will put Quinn's kill-me-first dress policy on ice. But it's not enough. If President Bush wants to rescue airline safety from the abysmal national joke that it has become, the first thing he should do is fire Thomas Quinn before the end of the year. How many more people will die before we learn that bureaucracy and security don't mix?
Sheesh, what a dumb policy.
Typical government thought process on security.
Reminds me of my time in the AF - when the undercover guys wore suits - but sported strict AFR 35-10 regulation haircuts - in the early 80's. Let's see...spend millions of dollars setting up covert offices, personnel and alibis - then give it all away with a $3 haircut. Sounds about right.
But not to worry - the TSA guys routinely identify all potential terrorists before any flight, by probing grandma's and 13-year old girls who gave themselves away by buying one-way tickets less than 2 weeks before a flight.
The stupidity at DOT is absolutely criminal.
There are business men and women on every flight I've ever been on so I don't think dressed in a sports jacket signifies 'MARSHALL' at all.
Further, I think seeing someone dressed in a suit or sports jacket sends a message of authority.
Better to discourage anything untoward than to have a situation on board.
Dumb to the nth. Back in the early 60's I heard of an Army Counter-Intelligence Corps unit commander who insisted all his agents wear blue serge suits. Imagine a covert surveillance team with a half-dozen guys running around in matching blue suits pretending not to know each other. Keystone cops time.
I'll never fly again until they get some sanity back in the process. They need to model the security measures Israel uses.
It's all about " IMAGE " looking professional.
What is complicated about this?
Seems all the more reason to arm the pilots!
At least they didn't have no stupid, commie, long-hair.
Pilots hell... let the people bear arms.
Do you really think the 9-11 attacks would have happened if 10 or 15 citizens on the plane would have been armed?
We need to be responsible and take care of ourselves - not sit around and expect somebody else to take care of us.
Of course - we have allowed laws to be passed that prevent law-abiding citizens from carrying weapons on planes. Right to keep and bear arms.
"And remember, it is better to look good than to be good. And you look MARVELOUS!" --Fernando
Same here, and I work for the FAA. Last time I flew I had my ID and ticket checked 5 time just going through security.
It is called "showing the colors" - the patrol cops on beat in the neighborhood. The only problem is that there cannot possibly be these "patrol cops" on every flight. The flights where there are no air marshals are immediately identified by the absence of the "men in black" uniforms.
The old J. Edgar Hoover FBI dress code in effect.
Quinn needs to go.
Why send ANY message? The point of an air marshal on board is so attackers will have NO IDEA WHO might suddenly plug them during an attack. "Sending a message" does not assert authority, it identifies who needs to be killed first - not exactly helpful to airline security.
Gritting his teeth and forcing a smile, the designer declared, "I'm sure these uniforms will look splendid on your palace guards."
"Palace guards? These are for my secret police!"
So you are against uniformed police officers too?
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