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February 9, 2007
PAGE ONE
SKY PATROL
U.S. Air Marshal Service
Navigates Turbulent Times
Armed Secret AgentsHave Gripes After 9/11;Dress Codes Blew Cover
By LAURA MECKLER and SUSAN CAREY
February 9, 2007; Page A1
On Sept. 11, 2001, the Federal Air Marshal Service -- an undercover squadtrained to stop or kill hijackers on U.S. carriers -- consisted of just 33 agentsscattered on more than 26,000 daily flights around the globe.
None were aboard any of the hijacked planes on 9/11. Six days later, Congresspassed legislation calling for a massive expansion of the law-enforcement
service as part of the nation's mobilization against terrorism. More than 200,000people applied to become agents. Soon, thousands of recruits were quietlytraining in hand-to-hand combat, advanced marksmanship and techniques for discreetly defusing onboard disturbances without ever identifying themselves asmarshals.
The service swelled to a current force somewhere between an estimated 2,500and 4,000. (The exact number of marshals is classified.) Their presence,combined with new provisions allowing U.S. pilots to carry guns in the cockpit,has changed the equation of onboard security. Would-be terrorists now mustenter into their calculations a fair chance that a fellow passenger is a well-trainedpoliceman concealing a semiautomatic weapon.
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RELATED READING
" The check in and boarding procedurescurrently employed by FAMS areunacceptable to ensuring the anonymity of federal air marshals."
• In a report this spring, the House Judiciary
Committee1 was highly critical of themarshal program.
* * *
" The shooting death … is legally justified in light of the surrounding circumstances
presented to the air marshals. It should benoted that both air marshals demonstrated remarkable restraint."
• In a May 2006 report2, the Miami State Attorney's office determined that theDecember 2005 shooting of an American
Airlines passenger by federal air marshalswas legally justified.
* * *
" People are terrestrial creatures … suited for surface living. When they venture abovethe surface of the earth, they encounter certain difficulties. Those are most directly
related to flying and the change inbarometric pressure."
• A marshal in the program's Charlotte,
N.C., field office filed a report3 critical of theprogram's handling of health issues in July2005.
* * *
" The manner of dress should allow you to blend in and not direct attention toyourself, as well as be sufficiently functional to enable you to conduct your law
enforcement responsibilities, and effectively conceal your duty equipment."
• In two emails sent to marshals in thesummer of 2006, Dana Brown, the director
of the program, discusses low morale 4
among the marshals and announces achange in the program's hotel policy and
dress code5.
* * *
" I'm very appreciative of the time that somany of you have dedicated to helping me
But building and maintaining the force in recent yearshas been an uneasy ride. Marshals have griped that it'sunhealthy flying four or more flights a day and say the
job is a monotonous rut that doesn't lead toadvancement. Another big complaint: Their cover can beeasily blown, particularly when they go through specialboarding procedures.
Budgetissues
led to a hiring freeze, and in some casesresulted in heavier schedules and fewer flights covered. Government oversightbodies, including the House JudiciaryCommittee and Homeland Security'sInspector General, raised concerns as towhether the marshals were able to dotheir jobs effectively.
Some marshals say many of their colleagues have quit, although agencyofficials say defections have beenminimal. But Dana Brown, the current
director, concedes that the program's$700 million budget wasn't enough tosustain any new hires between July 2002and fall 2006.
In an interview, Mr. Brown said the agencychallenges are largely due to growingpains. "It's the equivalent of having amom-and-pop or good small business thatworked very well and overnight it turnedinto a large Fortune 500-type corporationwith many more issues than it hadpreviously," he said. Mr. Brown is now
taking steps to address the marshals'complaints.
The job is a stressful mixture of tediumand high pressure. Marshals have made59 arrests since 2001 and drawn their weapons only twice -- once shooting aman dead. In the end, none of theincidents were found to be related toterrorism.
Last summer, their secretive operationscame into rare public view after Northwest
Airlines Flight 42 lifted off from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Aug. 23for a nearly nine-hour flight to Mumbai,India. Less than two weeks earlier, Britishauthorities had foiled an alleged trans-
Atlantic airliner bombing plot, and officialswere on high alert.
A group of 11 Indian passengers on Flight42 attracted the attention of flightattendants and one undercover marshalwhen they allegedly didn't follow crewmember instructions while boarding.Shortly after the DC-10 left the runway,
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Mr. Brown, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Secret Service, took over after Mr. Quinn's retirement. He initially sawthe complaints from marshals much as his former boss had. But soon after taking office, he began invitingmarshals to small dinners in Washington, and soon came to a different understanding. In July, he sent an email toall air marshals. "Candidly, the morale was much worse than I thought," he wrote.
Mr. Brown has begun taking steps to deal with some of the discord. In August, he loosened the dress code,instructing marshals to "dress at your discretion." A new pilot program allows them to check in for flights at airportsusing kiosks, rather than ticket counters. The marshals are also free to choose their own hotels. Mr. Brown hasset up 29 working groups to address such matters as scheduling and promotions. He's also opened up a dialoguewith the officers' association, meeting with its leaders to hear their complaints.
Still, he said he hasn't found a way to change the boarding procedures. In a December memo, he noted that theagency was able to reach its hiring goal for the year, but didn't specify how many new marshals were recruited.
Meanwhile, some marshals who had been highly critical of management "are more optimistic that things are goingto get better," says Mr. Terreri.
---- Daniel Michaels and Binny Sabharwal contributed to this article
Write to Laura Meckler at [email protected] and Susan Carey at [email protected] 8
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URL for this article:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117096584805802687.html
Hyperlinks in this Article:(1) http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/FAMSRpt060606.pdf (2) http://www.miamisao.com/publications/press/2006/airmarshalshooting.pdf (3) http://online.wsj.com/documents/marshal-health-02092007.pdf (4) http://online.wsj.com/documents/marshal-morale-02092007.pdf (5) http://online.wsj.com/documents/marshal-dress-02092007.pdf (6) http://online.wsj.com/documents/marshal-yearend-02092007.pdf (7) mailto:[email protected] (8) mailto:[email protected]
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