Federal Air Marshal Speaks Out

It was a very good news segment. It does not make my job any safer but I am glad this FAM let it out. The way the agency is run is not only a danger to myself but also to the flying public. It happens to me almost everyday that a passenger sitting next to me will lean over and thank me for the job I am doing. It seems like everyone in the airport knows who I am.
I hate that I have to follow the rules that the management has written such as the so called dress policy. I was told that there was no dress policy but then I was told that I could not wear the following: (I will not say it here)
I would not be surprised if a “Bad guy” killed a team of FAMS and took over the plane due to the rules that us flying FAMS have to follow.
I wonder what will become of the FAM who was on the news. I hope they do not fire him but us current FAMS no that his days are probably numbered even though we are now permitted to talk to the press.

Amen! Our current politicians all come across as inept. They create more problems than they solve and look down on their constituents.

I agree with how the FAM’s feel in this and any situations where non-disclosure and secrecy to their position has to be upheld at any cause, especially in our times. However, even though the top man, which in this case is President Bush, is where the finger may be pointed, he is not at fault. Just go back, look at how things operated when there was never an over analyzing of priorities. IF these men are active in the field, then by all means, make their improvements and requests one of the top items on the agenda. The lives we save may be our own.

I have a question for you guys. (FAMs) Is there something that a civilian activist can do to support you and help you fix this? I totally get why you don’t want to list your names, but that is terrible. Of COURSE you want to hold onto your job! But I believe that any work environment in which employees cannot speak their minds, especially to improve effectiveness and safety, is doing it ALL wrong. Intimidating employees to accept any inept practice management cooks up is counterproductive. I, for one, am totally fearless and have some time on my hands at the moment. I spend most of my day on activities calling for change in a variety of areas of our government and would be more than happy to help with your cause if I can. Any ideas?

The Federal Air Marshal Serivce is a sinking ship with no lifeboats. The only way to save it is to FIRE all the former Sercret Service “good ole boys” now while there is still a chance.

As a very frequent flyer, it is extremely easy to pick out a sky marshall. Two weeks ago, I was seated next to one. How did I know? He introduced himself to me!

Spencer Pickard is a hero to me. It took a lot of courage to do what he did. I applauded him!!! We need more Spencer Pickard to make this world we live in a safer place.

It’s about time!!!!!! Regardless if you get fired or not, Spencer, you have more integrity and honor than ANY manager in this backwards agency. I applaud you.

As a former flight attendant at the time of 9/11 and a resident of New York City, I applaud Spencer for his courage. Myself and many of my colleagues saw and continue to see the weaknesses in our airline security. Airlines, along with many large corporations that play a large part in our economy tend to be retroactive in their policies, demonstrated not only by the policies of the Federal Air Marshal program, but in the way the NTSB operates as well. We have learned this lesson before as we first encountered “guerilla” combat in our US military history. What we face now cannot be defeated by our slow-to-address bureaucratic formalities, but rather a creative, stealth approach that gives our dedicated, capable air marshals the opportunity to protect themselves as well as the rest of our travelling public. Cheers to Spencer for speaking out on something many of us have been thus far unable to change. Let us not fall prey to those who don’t follow any rules because of such rules we have created out of economic efficiency. It’s inexcusable.

Thank you, Mr. Pickard for pointing out the flaws in the Air Marshall program.
I am a flight attendant for a major U.S. airline and encounter your colleagues on a weekly basis.
I tell them every time what a joke their “covert” operation is; all they do is shrug and agree. We all know that until there is another incident, nothing will be done to improve things.

20/20 put nothing out there that the public hasn’t already seen for themselves. Spencer merely had the fortitude to speak out in defense of all of us. If he gets fired, all of these managers had better get the axe as well. Can’t wait to see them squirm in the office.

I second the posting by “Nobody” I too was hired post 911, gave up a local law enforcement position in SRT, soon to be promoted to take this oooh sooo wonderful job as some high speed steely eyed killer with the govt. All the carrots dangled in front of me. Only to be pulled away by a bunch of old senior citizen retired Secret Service suits!!!!!
As far as your posting mr. OPSEC soldier, I hardly believe you are even in the military. I’ll leave it at that.

Well, Mr. Blue, you might want NBC to go broke for some other reason but this story, and this website are ABC news. Maybe you should threaten them instead of NBC. And what do you think is making all the air marshalls and flight attendants whose comments above describe their experiences with procedures as being unacceptable and dangerous are doing? Just making stuff up? They obviously feel endangered and it has nothing to do with their political beliefs. They are concerned with your safety as well as theirs.

Spencer, It was a pleasure working with you and I am glad to see the agency hasnt killed everyones integrity. The airing of this desperate problem is in no way a shot at Pres. Bush or his administration, it is merely a desperate attempt by concerned Patriots who want to do nothing more than serve their country and provide its citizens with the best possible protection they can provide. As a former FAM and Co-Worker of Spencers, I applaud him for having the guts to once and for all face down a very poorly ran “good ole boy” system. I elected to leave the program after two years because I was forced to identify myself on a flight and was subsequently placed on admin leave and recommended for termination for my actions. What a joke. Now lets take it another step…Why have over 40% of the FAMs hired resigned?? Surely the agency cant say they hired that many people who just couldnt handle the job. Mabye it was because its hard to work with your hands tied behind your back.
Great job Spencer and Good luck. A former LASFAM

Looking forward in watching ABC’s Evening News with the rest of the story. The criminal conduct by management in Chicago will hopefully soon be exposed. It’s a matter of national security and the lives of the American public is at stake.

It just figures that that the people that make the rules & policy in this nation have no idea what is goin on. They have their head in the sand as usual.They just live in a bubble.

Good idea. If you want to email your members of congress, go to http://www.house.gov and http://www.senate.gov. It’s very easy to get your congressperson’s contact info and it takes just a few minutes to fire off an email to him/her. Let’s all of us here tonight take a few minutes to do that right now.

As a frequent flier I have been able to spot an air marshall from aross the airport. I feel the whole program is a joke if annonimity is the the basis for success. Most of these guys stick out like a soar thumb, from going throught the exits to pre boarding.It is very obvious when you are the 2nd person on the plane and there are already two people seated. I agree the dress code can be a give away, it is one thing if you are taking the 7am shuttle to DC it is another if you are flying into Orlando. I find it is typical of our governments attitude of being totally oblivious of real world conditions.

What the American public should be asking is why didn’t the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General investigate and report this gross malfeasance. The answer is because they are all Ex-U.S. Secret Service Agents just like the Air Marshal management. The U.S. Secret Service is not a law enforcement agency, rather a criminal organization specializing in gross malfeasance, misfeasance, cover-ups, and organized criminal activity. They are the cancer in Federal law enforcement that has spread to several other agencies including the Federal Air Marshal Service and Inspectors General. I will be writing my Senators requesting a Special Counsel not affiliated with the U.S. Secret Service be appointed and call a Special Grand Jury to investigate the Federal Air Marshal management.

Spencer while I understand your intentions I have to question your judgement. The media is not the place to be airing out our dirty laundry. You may have intended to draw attention to the ridiculous nonsense that we have to put up with every day, but what you have really done is erode the public confidence in our ability to protect them while flying to see their loved ones.
I also do not agree with policies such as the hotel and dress code. That is why I choose to ignore them. I have been flying since 1/02. I have worn jeans just about every one of those days, with a few exceptions. I use the hotel list as a list of hotels to avoid staying at because that is where the rest of us will be (along with Al Qaeda surveillance). My point is that we play by big boy rules. If you break them and get caught then you handle your business. You DON’T go on national television and air out every single complaint. Just reading the posts here tells me that you have done severe damage to our reputation and image to those who trust us to protect them.
Flying public: Please know that regardless of the stupid rules and regulations that we (are supposed to) follow, you are protected by some of the finest men and women that I have met in my 9 year career in law enforcement. 99% of us are more than willing to lay our lives on the line (and more than capable of killing the enemy should they choose our plane) so that we can look at your children and say to ourselves “its not going to happen on my flight”.
Sincerely,
John
Federal Air Marshal
WFO

Ok, y’all. I emailed both of my senators and my rep in the House. It took about 10 minutes. I was going to also email the relevant senate committee but neither Homeland Security nor Transportation are in charge of the FAM service. I can find no other committee appropriate to write to, either. If anyone knows what (if any) committee we should contact, please let us know.

I’m embarrassed to have worked with these SS bozos!
NOW, what about the criminal aspect of what these SS managers have been doing? The fraud, waste and abuse, the LEAP abuses, the discrimination, the retaliation, etc., was 20/20 or world news tonight interested in any of that? I could go on and on but the media covered only how these SS managers have been placing the American public in jeopardy. What of the millions in tax dollars that have been fraudulently wasted; the millions that go to pay for these SS managers salaries? This organization is completely broken, from the field offices all they way up to Washington and it’s ridden with corruption.
These crooks will promise to fix the problems; they’ll throw us and congress a bone or two and then they’ll walk off Scott free. No criminal charges will ever come from any of this because these stories were never pursued correctly!
Congrats to Pickard!

Anonymous: They know our procedure because you allow them to know (and FOX NEWS/CNN/MSNBC (the media) tell them. You walk with your partner through the airport. You follow the cookie cutter image that TQ created (and yes, I am a FAM). You stay at the hotels that they pick for you. I DON’T! I wear clothes that blend and I ignore the things that place my safety at risk. I have flight attendants that tell me all of the time that they never would have known if I had not discreetly told them when I went to use the bathroom before take off. I don’t check in at the ticket counter, I use the machine (except for Alaska which for whatever reason won’t work). I don’t even bother talking with the gate agent. In my opinion they have no need to know who I am. They are not going to be on the flight, why should they know who I am?
Like I said, I more than understand the frustration. I have had it out with everyone you could possibly think of: ticket agents, gate agents, flight attendants, pilots, even the several freakin airport police officers around the country. Nobody is more fed up and frustrated with this agency than I am. If you knew who I was you would not question that. That being said, I still think that we are better off handling the situation internally. The main obstacle left in Feb. Now, this guy seems at least open to listening, which is light years ahead of where we were before with the guy who was famous for stating ” when I get an email from those FLEO guys I just hit the delete key”. Things won’t change overnight, but they will get better eventually. God knows they could not get much worse!
Eroding the public confidence in us does not serve anyone. You have to admit that we have some of the most talented people in law enforcement working for this agency. I see it in training and in the field. Airing out the dirty laudry via the media is only going to make them lose confidence in us, not bring about change. Communication within the agency is what will bring about change and I think this guy is open to that.

One more quick thing anonymous: Winning is a mindset. I don’t care if you load the entire plane with terrorists, I will win. You will never convince me otherwise. To go into battle with the mindset that you can’t win means you have already lost… Be safe out there and (try to) keep your head up!

I was glad to see your section on Air Marshalls. My husband is an Air Marshall, and a Marine, he is currently in Iraq, however, when he is home working his civilian job as a Marshall, I worry non-stop about the fact that he is so recognizable in his job. He has even had people sit beside him on the plane and ask him how he likes his job. He could very easily be attacked from behind and would have little or no way to protect himself or the people on the flight. Please don’t let this one go. I can’t wait till his next phone call to tell him that someone finally had enough guts to stand up and speak up and bring this situation into the public eye. God Bless you Mr. Pickard, hopefully someone will listen.

That our cover is blown is the least of the problem, we all know the abuse that has gone on in our field offices for far too long. The answer is that the conracts of these incompetant supervisors need to end. We need to take the cash cow from these opportunist know! They have never cared about Homeland Security, they saw a cronie train ride in filled with green backs and hoped on . The agents that signed on and left families behind in other state are being run over by that train. I remember signing on leaving my family behind, sleeping in my car because I could not afford housing in the state the FAM Service placed me in. We payed for Hotels on our personal credit cards and are repaid by our thuggish SAC trying to squeeze us out.How about the way they use Operations to travel at their leasure and foot the tax payer for their trips, we need oversight!We need to all expose them know!!!!!!!!!

Frankly I think it was a great action for Dems/Rep to stand together and sing God Bless America after 9/11. Far better than the polorization that has occurred since then.
Government bureaucracies don’t work well regardless of party. But there is no choice than to keep trying. The alternative is futility.
The guy who spoke out on this would not even try if there were not the possibility of reform.

Just watched 20/20, thanks Spencer for standing up for all of us. I hope and pray good things for you and your family. Maybe congress and the rest of the nation will see that we are not just a small group of disgruntled few. The issues covered by ABCs 20/20 are but just the tip of the ice burg. But operationally they are the most important issues. From day one I have felt that the management of the FAMS did not truly care about the mandated mission of this agency. As I watched supervisors by new homes and expensive cars on their double dipping salaries I quickly realized that they had no long term vested interest in the success of this agency and its personnel, rather a short term interest in how much money they could milk from the government. Thanks again Spencer!!!!

I am so proud of you for standing up for what you believe in and wanting to REALLY make a difference.

How many terrorist have have boarded and caused problems on El
AL Israli Airlines in the last 20 plus years? None! The terrorists know better. The Israli air marshalls are extremely well trained, highly secretive, and very effective. 1.You can’t identify the Israli air marshalls who are on the plane, but they can sure detect a potential terrorist. 2. They pass security without having to raise a red flag. 3. They are dead eye shots, and could take out a terrorist before he could blink. And don’t think for a second that the bad guys don’t know that…

I believe JOHN is FAM Management trying to do some damage control.
He lacks information every Air Marshal knows, and has no concept of the most basic fact of all.
At 30,000 feet, no one is leaving the room when things get hot and heavy.
The only thing between the Flying Public’s certain death by Terrorists aboard their flight is the Federal Air Marshal.
This Agency asks your only protection (the FAMS) to stand out like BOZO the Clown at a Wake so the terrorists can target them first…then sit down and face away from an enemy whose only mission is to cause as much indiscrimate collateral damage (death)as possible.
No Law Enforcement SOP ever asks their Law Enforcement personnel to face away from a dangerous criminal, and it doesn’t get more dangerous than terrorists looking for the biggest ‘bang for the buck’ at 30,000 ft., does it?
The only way an Air Marshal can be expected to protect the flying public is by being “COVERT’ (ie. undercover) and this Agency has removed that basic tactical advantage because they want the Air Marshals to have a ‘professional public image’…for the sake of their own egos and self aggrandizement.
At 30,000 feet, the Public is at grave Risk. Not only does this Agency lie, cheat and steal from their Federal Air Marshals…they fail to inform the Flying Public that WHEN (not IF) A FAM fails to take control of a Terrorist event, an armed Military Jet will be ordered to blow the plane and everyone on it to smitherines before it ever has a chance to hit another building on American soil.
FAMS are well aware of this protocol, so is our Military, and so are many of our Congressional Leaders.
In fact, it is only the Flying Public that is being kept in the dark about the real ‘risk’ the FAMS exposure presents to them.
“Blowing their cover” by Airport Ticket Counter, TSA, Check in, Flight Crew and Ground Crew personnel, and especially their own Agency should be a criminal offense.
ABC showed nothing that hasn’t been shown on television before.
Only the last time, it had the full blessing of Tom Quinn and was vetted at the highest levels of Homeland Security.
The video aired to the Public included FAM training sequences, seating arrangements, numbers of Air Marshals aboard flights, descriptions of their weapons, dress and boarding procedures.
It aired on MSNBC more than a year ago (is probably still in their archives) and FAMS all over the country filed concerns at that time. “Concerns” that have been ignored with the same flippant arrogance described in this piece.
If Quinn’s homeboy Adams says nothing important was revealed in that Agency sponsored “How to Indentify an Air Marshal” segment, surely this ten minute warning to the PUBLIC merits some positive consideration, doesn’t it?
The biggest SECRETS the Air Marshals are asked to KEEP are related to the INCOMPETENCE of this Agency’s Leadership, and speaking to the American Public about the real risks they, and you, face when flying a Commercial Air Carrier.
As one FAM said, this story is just the tip of the iceberg, and soon the Public will know the ‘rest of the insane FAM Leadership story’ when a book is released by another former Patriot (like Pickard)who joined the Federal Air Marshal service immediately following 9/11 hoping to make a difference for the American flying public…and ended up with the same disgust and frustration other FAMS have shown here.
It is called “Inside the Federal Air Marshal Service – the Public at Risk”…and FAMS know how much this writer is risking by writing this book at all.
JOHN, if you are an Air Marshal…and you choose your own hotel and wear what you want on planes…how do you pay for it?
I again suggest you are management, and are therefore, “exempt” from all the ‘rules and regs’ you demand of the men and women Air Marshals who actually want to do the job they signed up for. If you fly, it is most likely on those over seas exotic destinations reserved for supervisory personnel who have never even attending the FAM training program, and often couldn’t shoot the broad side of a big barn. That’s the Homey hook up of the ‘management team’ isn’t it?
…and your concern for damaging the “reputation and image” of the Agency is a dead give away of your Secret Service background.
On the otherhand, it is well documented that the Spencer’s of the Federal Air Marshal Service, and other ‘real’ FAMS weighing in here, are a little more concerned with what happens at 30,000 feet.
They have expressed those concerns since February 2002 as more and more dangerous policies were implemented.
Isn’t it time the flying American Public became aware of the fact that they may even be LESS SAFE aboard a Commercial Air Craft than they were on 9/11 due to the inane policy of FAMS being “DISCREET”…what in the hell is ‘discreet’? You are either ‘undercover’ or you’re not.
Spencer, and those speaking out here, and the author of the new book coming out…have risked much to disclose the truth about the Public’s Safety, because their honor and integrity demands it.
I think they want the people who really write their paychecks to know the truth about the danger this Agency’s Leadership (and perhaps Homeland Security leadership at the very top) has placed on them and their families.
Management has had since 2-01-02 to listen to their well trained, experienced, and dedicated field Law Enforcement officer’s concerns, but apparently this Management’s Agenda is more about ‘looking good’ than ‘being good’.
Remember what it says on the nice plaque you received after training? Before even the training was ‘watered down and dumbed down’ to get more bodies to fill the vacancies available because so many FAMS flooding out of the Agency in complete disgust!
The FAMS themselves are America’s HERO’S and they have been treated with extreme prejudice and misfeasence, while fifedoms have been built for the very people who brought the Secret Service to one of the most demoralized Agencies in the Federal Government.
People who had already caused a huge exodus of those Secret Service Agent patriots as well.
It was, and is, a Homey ‘hook up’
Management system built on failures of historic proportion.
It is well past time for a total house cleaning of management, and perhaps a restoration of management by the original U.S. Air Marshals who got booted right after the original FAMS signed up.
Yathink?

As a flying FAM I agree with everything Spencer said. I only wish that 20/20 spoke about how FAM Supv are not required to fly, are not required to attend the Fam Academy. are not required to work the same amount of hours, or have the same training requirements. Most are retired Federal employess’s double dipping, only there for the money.

Dear Red,
As a FAM, I can tell you that my cover has been blown more by gate agents than by any other group in the indutry. Now, it has been better recently than in the past by a little bit…I have had my badge and credentials literally held up and read in front of a boarding area full of pssengers on more than once instance, by more than one airline at a myriad of airports from sea to shining sea. Not because of any other reason than trying to discreetly do our job. I don’t think you get it, we have tried all of the other avenues–all of them and this media/congressional attentions is what it has resorted to. I can go on and on and have…on many times…but when you push the jet off and you close the flight we are there to protect the crew and passengers while you go back to Starbucks or the next fight. How do I know this, besides witnessing it several times a day by watching and observing? I’ve done your job, quit pretending you know more of what we are supposed to do or what procedures we are ordered to do until you have done mine. You personify and represent the many digruntled gate agents we have to tip toe around and aviod daily, the rest of your professionals who understand and assist, thank you, you are AWESOME!!

Thanks for speaking up and making the general public aware of the FAM problem(s).
As a Flt. Svc. employee I see the problems everytime a FAM boards the aircraft.
Maybe there should be a task force between the FAMs and the airline employees to discuss a potential solution. After all, usually those that actually have the “hands-on” know what works best than those who think it looks good on paper.
Just a suggestion.

I agree that ineptness on every front is the problem. It happens in private companies, too. Some managers aren’t interested in furthering the aims of the company, just feathering their own nests. It’s shameful that someone in congress has to intervene just to make the FAM program able to do what it was created to do. It’s one program that you’d think has the visibility — and visibility was SUPPOSED to be figurative, not literal — to be done right! The managers who are responsible for the bad decisions should be fired.

I saw the news piece on the Sky Marshall and it’s a shame that their own agency would put thse people in danger. It have them exposed before a flight it leaves the door open for any potential terrorist, on a flight, to take them out beore they can be of assistance. What kind of backward policies are these? Keep them safe and the rest of us protected.

I want to thank Mr. Pickard for his bravery and selflessness.
But lets give credit where credit is do. Lets not only give the blame to the inept, retirement padding, vindicative, so-called leaders of the FAM program, but to TSA and the airlines.
TSA does everything in their power to out the FAMs trying to cross into the sterile area of an airport. Orlando, for instance, requires FAMs to enter with the passengers in the screening area. Not that the exit lane is ideal, but is definitely better than being forced to show your credentials one foot away from passengers and then a second id of TSA’s choosing, because TSA supervisor’s no longer wanted to walk the 50 feet to the exit lane. They have made FAMs wait up to a half hour to enter the sterile area, causing some to miss flights.
The airlines deserve some of the biggest blame. Why FAMs have to show their ids to gate agents is unbelievable. Essentially, it comes down to the egos of these gate agents who if not shown these ids by the FAMs, in front of all the passengers of their flight, because this is the gate agent’s plane, will complain to airline management, who in turn complains to the leadership leaders of the FAM service. The FAMs in turn, are either giving a letter of discipline or suspended. What is the logic in the gate agents needing to know we are there? The FAMs are required to meet with the pilot, so what reasons does this serve. This is a select few, but some gate agents have deliberately gone out of their way to out the FAMs by saying who they are out loud in front of passengers.
This is just a small portion of what obstacles are put in front of FAMs to stay undercover everyday.
To those who think that Mr. Pickard agreeing to do this story would harm all of us, here is something to think about. The terrorist already knew!!!!!!
Now, it is up to you, the public and Congress, to do something about this. We have tried and failed or been fired. Your voice is the one that truely counts. You can be apathetic and do nothing cause you dont think this affects you or you never fly, but maybe you have a friend or family member that flies. Or a somebody in a skyscraper or important government building or you have money in the market. Think it wont happen? Ask the families and friends of those who died on 9/11/01.
It wont happen again, or will it?

I’m sure this past week all the powers to be have been on numerous teleconference calls with FAMS and TSA’s legal counsel; if they have any brains at all; they will be rewriting the boarding procedures; change in dress code; get rid of all former SS bosses with a buyout and promote within.
But right now; I guess they are sitting around with their fingers up their nose saying:
Could it be that we carried this thing too far – neeah, could be

As a wife of a current FAM, I sat and cried at watching Spencer’s story. He touched base on so many of the issues that concern so many of us. I have wanted to go to the media for some time now, however knowing that my husband would no doubt loose his job and any possblity of becoming a LEO for any other agency for that matter, I have kept qiuet. Not for the status, but because, how then would we support our 3 small children and have a roof to put over thier heads? To have to keep qiuet about these issues has been eating me alive and I thank God for Mr. Pickard and commend for him doing what he did.
Does management wonder why there are so many FAMs looking for other employment? And it’s sad to say that the issues Mr. Pickard mentioned are not the only reasons.
How many FAMs are living away from thier wives and children because they were promised transfers back to thier home states after they signed on? How many fams were told there would be 4 day work weeks and are now working 6-7 days per week because of the time that the shedules are put out? How many FAMs have missed important family events because they need to have 45 days advance notice for a day off / or had to call in sick and leave a flight uncovered because they could not get that important day off – all because they were not allowed to switch a flight with another FAM willing to do so?
On a personal note – I an due to deliver a baby in 3 weeks and my husband requested not to have any cross country overnight trips the week of my due date. That request was not granted.
A family friendly agency – my butt!
As ‘nobody’ stated, FAMs were promised numerous things and none of it has been delivered.
And as for ‘hold the phone’ HOW DARE YOU?? – telling the FAMs to quit cryng because of thier poor choice of careers!! That they simply fly around on airplanes all day?
These dedicated FAMs are putting thier lives on the line every day, leaving thier families beind, going across the country (sometimes outside of it) – all for the sake of protecting this country. God forbid you got shot on the job, most likely you would have back up to help you, take you to a hospital maybe? NOT THE FAMS!!! Something goes wrong up on a plane, they are screwed – no backup, no second chances!
So, as you sit on your protection details, remember it’s the FAMs that are on the front line of another aircraft attack. You should be thanking them, not talking about thier choices of coke or diet coke.
May GOD Bless all of the FAMs and continue to keep them safe!

Almost every undercover federal agent is blown at one time. Going on the news will not help the excuse for not doing the job. If they feel that they cannot provide the service, they should either leave or put on uniforms like everybody else.
Air Marshals are using the same excuse as Valerie Plame when her cover was leaked back with Aimes. Sorry, either you can do the job or you can’t. If you can’t you should leave. Using ‘cover blown’ as an excuse not to do the job, going to the media, and destroying the US governemnt won’t help anyone who chooses to fly with persons who cannot provide security.

The following e-mail was sent to all FAMs on 04/18/06
Section 18(a) of OMS Directive 3700 does prohibit employees from undermining teamwork or public confidence in FAMS by criticizing or ridiculing other FAMS, TSA, or DHS employees in a manner deemed defamatory, obscene, unlawful, unprofessional, or which constitutes harassment based on sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, or sexual orientation, and which impairs the operation or efficiency of the FAMS, TSA [the Transportation Security Administration], or DHS [the Department of Homeland Security]. Speech is deemed “unprofessional” only if it violates the principles set forth in section 7 of OMS Directive 3700.
I’m sure this wasn’t a threat or warning or was it ?

Once again you Liberals show how much you hate this country by airing that story. You will do anything for your own personel gain. You guys make me sick!! You could have handeled that so that everyone would know what to look for when boarding a plane. You would think you people would learn from Dan Rather!!

I was a FAM. After almost 15 years of government service I was forced out of my job.
I would still be employed if I would not have felt a sense of duty after 9/11.Thats why I took the job. That love for this country and so-called freedom. I walked onto the FAM program with a lot to offer. Upon arrival to my duty station I was assigned to the training department. I helped implement a lot of the training still in use today.
After two years of FAM service and multiple letters of accommodations from the SAC and other management, I was told my top secret clearance would not be granted. This had nothing to do with me never being in trouble or being so instrumental in the development of our field office, or having the first arrest and conviction in the new FAM program. No, it all came back to things that FAM management was told during my initial hiring interview in Atlantic City. I have a question for FAM management. Why bring me on if you had every intention of firing me. So here I sit, new wife, baby on the way and no job.
I have worked missions with Pickard and he’s a good FAM. And to all the other FAM’s be safe because management will get you killed.

Who wants to fly. I quit some time ago, because who is there to stop a terrorist. FAM’s are targets. I stay away from the metro area’s.
Thanks go to the beauocrates and there no concept of the real world.

The 20/20 story was disappointing. It only touched on what has been reported over and over again. The inane policies are a result of arrogant SS agents who hijacked aviation security. TSA is the agency, the FAMS are just part of that agency. The SS take-over is rampant everywhere at TSA and all the inane TSA policeis (not just FAMS) trace to these fools. These are people who think they know it all and don’t have a clue. That would be OK, but they refuse to listen to any counter position and they are allowed to get away with it by the head of TSA, Kip Hawley, who seems to be infatuated by having the SS around him.

I don’t understand the problem with the FAM security agencies. What is wrong and how hard is it to disguise the air marshal’s? I think that ’911′is a sad result of dragging one’s feet and/or ignoring a situation which needs immediate attention.

Fire the SS guys, and life would be better. They dont give a damn about us. They want a dead hero so that they can go to a funeral and act like they care about our families. If one of us dies, then they can show they had a hero and increase their budgets. The SS guys are evil and they dont care about anybody other than themselves. they are infesting everything and they need to be gotten rid of.
FAM management is so bad that the SS supervisors and other supervisors dont even have to shoot a qualification score as high as their troops. They have lower scores, and they dont even have to complete the same training scenarios. they go on international flights, even though the troops dont trust most of them. FAM management is concerned about FAM management.

The problem is that you have Sacks (like the funny) who don’t know any of their people except the Team leaders and this is who they pander to.
You have some offices that have really bad retention problems because of SS Team Leaders treating their people badly telling them (on my off days do not call me unless you are dieing or I only took this position to get a promotion I could care less about you people)(If you dont like what we are doing just leave.) and people that are leaving to take 30 to 40 thousand dollars in pay cuts.
This is happening and all the Saic’s can think to do is pull people from other teams that still have all their original Team Members from day one to fill the vacant slots with the bad Team Leaders. Does this not make since to anyone else or is it just me. Heres a thought how about you take this sorry excuse for a team leader and fire him or reassign him to a place that he can’t hurt the service.
One last thought has anyone mentioned that the one big perk that we get which pays extra money is the overseas trips and here we have these same sorry SS team leaders who cannot qualify on a firearms range or at least not while there are any fireams instructors on site that are not former Secret Service anyway or pass a Physical Fitness test, taking our seats on these flights as flying FAM’s and presenting themselves’s as such to Overseas Governments. Is this right I ask YOU.

As an ex female FAM, there were many times I would have individuals approach me and say “thats cool, Ive never met a female Air Marshall before.” If its was that easy to identify a female Air Marshall (less than 2% are females, investigate that!) I sympathize with the male Air Marshalls.
My SAC once told me, “If you don’t like it(refering to the Air Marshalls), go back to the green.” (refering to go back to the Border Patrol).
I left for a professional agency, with leaders and wonderfull communications both up and down the chain of command.
Kudos to you Spencer. When they go after your job, or should say the next time, take a stand like you always do!

Well I just spoke to my wife, an airline ticket agent. She says the air marshals are very discreet when they check in and it would be unusual if anyone knew who they were. They wear all sorts of clothing – not just suits or slacks. Seems to me there is more that one side to this story.

Well Mr. Mfambulous, just because your wife said so, it must be true! We wear all sorts of clothing, but not certain clothing. We are not allowed to wear certain things, and if your wife thinks that it would be unusual for anyone to know who we are, then she is mistaken. Sometimes it works for us, but if we check in at our departure gate and there are FAM hunters, then we will get noticed. FAM hunters are the traveling public who make a game of identifying the FAM’s. We can pick each other out, and so can the bad guys. The flight attendants just look and smile as we walk by them, and they dont even need to ask for ID. The only side to this story is that we should be allowed to dress however we want to as long as it does not attract attention. Upper management dictates a dress code, and if they deny it, then it is a flat out lie. Wait until the hearings, and you will be witnessing a lot of perjury from FAM management. Lets hope they get some prison time.

This has struck a cord with people all over as witnessed by the reactions here. To all of the naysayers—(Red, John, etc), regardless of your personal beliefs, which you are completely and rightfully entitled to, accusing SP of “airing out dirty laundry” is false. He merely chose to stand up for what he believes in, and speak to the public about a well known and documented issue…therefore, you can’t charge.
What he has done, is helped to spawn a spiritied debate, this has gotten people talking.
Dialogue and action are what make this country the USA and voices that standup when no one else will are what will continue to keep this country alive, made up of it’s citizens. The media is a tool, which is intergral to the system of checks and balances as is the legistlature and the judicial system. Believing people should not bring significant problems to the public eye, promotes a breakdown of a democratic process.
So few people will risk anything, let alone their job, reputation and public scrutiny.
Spencer is not a hero or a martyr, he is a patriot. Perhaps his step into the spotlight, will spawn passion and action in the people who also want to make a difference. We are a democracy, please write your congress and vote for change. Complacency breeds contempt. As Margaret Mead so eloquently stated: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
Use your voice!

After seeing and hearing this segment on FAM’s and the policies…I can’t believe how stupid these policies are! They are trying to protect us? I don’t think so! SPENCER PICKARD is on our side… and the one’s making the stupid decisions…which side are they on?

It appears from this site and 20/20 that the “dress code” is not the issue but the jealousy and envy of the Secret Service has caused employees to be concerned with that issue than in performing their jobs. What does Don Strange have to do with anything- except the union.

To all who have posted on here…
I believe everyone is entitled to an opinion. I have posted several on here. You can tell those who have an opinion and those that speak from first hand knowledge.
The truth is, the lies that have been told to the public by Quinn and his cronies are just the string that you find hanging off a sweater. If you pulled on those lies like strings, the whole thing would fall apart. Quinn was on former President Bush’s protection detail for many years. Now his son is President….. if you pulled on that string enough, the whole sweater would come apart.
Clark Kent Ervin tried to tell the truth, he wasn’t a yes man, so Tom Ridge got rid of him.
Frank Tererri spoke out and they tried to get rid of him, fortunately, the ACLU got involved in one of their worthy efforts and we kept Frank.
Don Strange had a very good chance of being our next Director. He had the FAMS support, support from some in congress, but he threatened the Secret Service cronies and Quinn himself. So, they chose not to “renew” Don Strange’s contract and got rid of him.
Do you see a pattern here?
It is like a very aggressive cancer. IF you don’t act quickly and cut it all out…. it will kill the whole body.
They refuse to talk to anyone, refuse to look at what is effective and fall back on what they know. The SS way, backstab and defame your adversaries. Get rid of them anyway you can. Call in favors of those you have dirt on. SS are with their protectees in many compromising positions, seeing many things that those protectees would never want to be divulged. Get the point? they will help people like Quinn keep his totalitarian regime because they OWE HIM!
That is why we FAMS just try to bend the rules and not get caught so that we can protect the flying public.
Those of you who don’t fly and feel it doesn’t concern you… flight 93 crashed in a remote area, what if you live in Herndon Va? The next flight that doesn’t quite make it’s target, it might drop on your house! So, it affects all of us!
I beg all of you to get involved. Tell your Congress, Senate and the President that you will vote their “PARTY” out of office if they don’t act swiftly to resolve this problem. Vote against all incumbents and let the new politicians know they have 4 years to take care of your concerns or they will be out too!
Semper Fi!

Several federal law enforcement agencies (Executive Branch) are being stacked with cronies loyal to the administration but not necessarily qualified for the job. A certain group of federal agents (Secret Service) have infiltrated many high level federal law enforcement positions and are pushing a certain political agenda. Some good examples of this are The Federal Air Marshal Service, Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, The Food and Drug Administration and many of the Inspector Generals Offices.
This is a slippery slope we do not want to go down because of the obvious implications.
Federal Law Enforcement should be apolitical and looked upon by the citizens of this country to serve and protect and enforce all laws regardless of which party is in power. Instead it is becoming a very political game of smoke and mirrors and political favors. Congress and the media need to take a very close look at this now before there is no turning back.

ABC
Please list a phone number that people who want to talk can call!

The FAMS Director Dana Brown &
“The Peter Principle”
The “Brownie Peter Principle” states that in a hierarchically structured administration such as the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), people tend to be promoted up to their “level of incompetence”.
This principle is based on the observation that in the Federal Air Marshal Service, retired Secret Service Agents always start in the management ranks, but when they prove to be incompetent in the tasks to which they are assigned, they get promoted to an even higher rank of ASAC, SAC, Deputy Director, and yes, even to be the Director someday.
This process of climbing up the hierarchical employment ladder can go on indefinitely, until the Secret Servant Agent reaches a position where he or she is no longer competent at anything.
At that moment the process typically stops, since the established rules of the government bureacracy makes it very difficult to “demote” someone to a lower rank, even if that person would be much better fitted in a lower position.
The net result is that most of the higher levels of bureaucracy in the government, and most importantly the Federal Air Marshal Service, specifically in the Washington, DC headquarters office, is that management and senior executive positions are currently filled with incompetent people, who got there because they were minimully satisfactory at doing a completely different task as a US Secret Servant Agent, than the tasks they are expected to do now in the FAMS.
The logic here is that just because a Secret Servant is good at one task or employment level, does not mean they will be good at the next.
For example, just because a Secret Servant Agent has been a good Door-Stop for 20 years, doesn’t mean he will be a good manager or supervisor as well.
The skills required in the past as a Door-Stop, that is, the ability to keep a door open without any physical movement, may be very different from the interpersonal skills required of a manager and a leader.
The Door-Stop might be able to “look professional” in a suit while holding a door open, kissing butt, affixing pretty colorful buttons to his or her lapel, and frequently fetching coffee for their supervisors on request, but these important Secret Servant Agent skills will not equip the Door-Stop for motivating employees, resolving conflict, chairing meetings, negotiating dilemmas, crisis management, intelligence gathering, being a respected leader, or even handling a 600 million dollar a year budget –– which must be required in a managerial role in the FAMS.
Some Door-Stops might even have the skills to be good at both opening AND closing a door. Yet others will not. But if someone is promoted on the chance that they MIGHT have management skills, then we are doing nothing more than putting money on any old horse in the hope it will win a race.
Yes, sometimes we will be lucky and we will all win, because we just happened to pick some strange Georgian southern blooded thoroughbred horse that might have won the race for us that day.
But more often than not, we will be wrong, and your government leaders were wrong this time, and we ended up losing our money by mistakenly betting in the race on the lame jackasss who was previously the Door-Stop for the broadside door of an old barn.
If we promote every “professional looking” Door-Stop just because they are good at “looking pretty”, holding doors open, or standing on man-hole covers, with the high hopes that someday they WILL be good managers, then we are mistakenly gambling on the pipe dream that things will turn out well.
We are then just blindly gambling on a Door-Stop’s ability to do their job efficiently and professionally –– and the odds don’t look very good for us if we ultimately make that bet.
But after the events of 9/11, we are not just gambling a small amount of money on a horse race this time. We are instead gambling our reputations, our lives, and the survival of our country, on the chance these former Secret Servant Door-Stops possess the skills we require them to have as managers of the Federal Air Marshal Service.
Why do most employees get promoted? It is often a reward for doing a good job. But is it a reward to put Door-Stops in a position where they are no longer competent?
If someone is a good Door-Stop, then we should most certainly reward them as being a good Door-Stop, but we should not be promoting Door-Stops into a position where they can not provide any benefit to the Federal Air Marshal Service or to their country. We do not need Door-Stops in the FAMS. We need HONORABLE LEADERS.
Every day missions are accomplished in the FAMS by those employees who have actually NOT reached their level of incompetence. This is because these individuals are still working within their competence levels –– These are the men and women air marshals who fly missions every day.
If you apply this to the front line air marshal who is in fact flying every day, most of the actual real work that is keeping America safe in the air is being achieved by these flying air marshals, who are being forced to work below their highest level of competence.
But in the FAMS management ranks, which is populated by Door-Stops who HAVE reached their highest level of competence long ago, nothing of importance or relavance ever gets accomplished, therefore these Secret Service Door-Stops do not hold a stake in the success of the FAMS –– its all about the cushy job and the retirement.
Look around your field office my fellow air marshals, and see who is currently motivated to do the work, and who is not. Who would you follow into battle? Who would you trust with your life?
I have a feeling very few of you would choose any of your former Secret Servant Door-Stop supervisors. What does this tell you about these people called “managers?”
Stay safe, fly low and avoid the radar. Help is on the way.

Not Yet, it’s not half baked theory or conspiracy theory. It’s reality for People like Frank Tererri. Why do you think the ACLU took his case?

Mr. Ross,
As a former FAM who worked in the Washington DC (Virginia) field office, and one who worked in the PDA intelligence branch, I can tell you that you have now just touched upon one of the biggest scandals in your reporter career. Former Director Tom Quinn wreaks of corruption when it comes to the software that was used in the Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)used by air marshals in the field. Without giving away any OPSEC here, I can tell you the software never worked properly. And when it didn’t work, the Federal Air marshal Service (FAMS) had to repeatedly spend millions for software rewrites. It sort of reminded me of Bill Gates and “Windows”. If you purposely build an operating system designed not to work, you’ll need an entire division that does nothing but “repair” the defects, and in most cases, the money isn’t made in the original purchase, it’s made in the servicing of the product when it breaks down. And this was the case with the software company named Datamaxx. Even though there was already numerous “windows based” law enforcement software available, Director Quinn chose to contract with Datamaxx and instead have them write an entirly new “Palm” based software program, which was the absolute worst decision. The Palm operating system is and was at that time both inadequate and very unreliable, and numerous people informed Quinn of this fact. Even the fact that Palm was chosen as the PDA device was flawed, since there were far better harware platforms on the market, which again, utilized the much more reliable Windows software platform. Rumors flew in Atlantic City that Director Quinn (and his ex-wife) made a fortune on Palm public stock, but there is no way I can personally verify that, maybe Mr. Ross you can. Well once these Palm PDA’s were placed into service, there was one problem after another. The software didn’t work as promised, so the FAMS threw millions of dollars at Datamaxx to try and solve the problems, which were never solved. After three years of disfunctional PDA’s being in service, Director Quinn came up with a brilliant idea. “Why don’t we buy new PDA’s and use a Windows platform?”. The thousands of now useless PDA’s were turned in, millions more dollars rolled out, and everyone was issued brand new PDA’s. Sounds like a happy ending to a wonderful story, right? Wrong. As in most disasters, they leave a wake of destruction for years to come, and it wasn’t any different in the case of the PDA Disaster. Just one of many victims in this disaster, are the hundreds, maybe even thousands of passengers who have falsly been entered into the US intelligence database as “suspicious persons”, when in actuality they were victims of a corrupt bureaucracy. Let me explain. The PDA’s were specifically designed to allow the FAM to submit what is called a Surveillance Detection Report (SDR) wirelessly and directly to an intelligence division in the Federal Air Marshal Service (which I used to be employed by). When Air Marshals witnessed suspicious activity or person, they would complete an SDR on the PDA, assisted by “state of the art” software… at least that’s how it was sold to the FAMS. It didn’t work. Numerous other law enforcement agencies around the country also utilize the intelligence information that is being submitted by air marshals, therefore, the “Arrogance & Ego Factor” applies here… other agencies were watching the SDR program very carefully. So when the PDA’s Datamaxx softeware began to fail miserably, the Federal Air Marshal Service began to have an image problem. Less and less air marshals were utilizing the PDA’s and were just throwing them in their carry-on bags and forgetting about them. This of course meant that fewer and fewer SDR’s were being submitted by Air Marshals. So how does a corrupt government agency deal with such a problem? Easy, it fabricates intelligence (but the government would never do such a thing!). The first field office to fall victim to this plan was the Miami field office. The Managers there began to put serious pressure on the air marshals to “find anything” to report… or else. The number of SDR’s from the Miami field office skyrocketed and surpassed all other field offices. Life was wonderful for the managers of the Miami field office. Their little social experiment worked so well, Director Quinn and his cronies decided to import their corruption to the Las Vegas field office, which at the time was the field office with the lowest numbers of submitted SDR’s. There, the Special Agent in Charge put out a written local office Directive mandating an SDR quota system, and if they didn’t comply with the quota, they would not receive good marks on their yearly performance reviews. Air marshals I spoke with told me that they were repeatedly making up intelligence. I was told that air marshals were randomly picking passengers out on flights and writing “suspicious person” intelligence reports on them. They told me that there was no way they were going to risk getting negative performance reviews or not get their pay raises for the year, so they submitted false intelligence reports on innocent airline passengers. This unethical practice went on for months until it was leaked to the media. It was then I decided I did not want to work for such an unethical and criminal organization, and I got the hell out of there. Months later I was told that after the media frenzy died down, the policy was reinstated, but this time it wasn’t put in writing. With that said, I’m wondering how thousands of passengers would feel knowing that they were falsely placed into an intelligence database as being a “suspicious person”. Will they now be placed on a watch list? I always find it a bit interesting when I hear about a passenger who has been stopped by TSA and told they are on a watch list, and its grandma from Cornhusky, Nebraska, and I have to wonder, was she a victim of the Federal Air Marshal Service SDR quota policy? So Mr. Ross, like I said, you have stumbled upon a large scandal the Federal Air Marshal Service is afraid will be made public. I encourage all FAMs who have knowledge of this SDR quota policy to come forward on this Blog, or contact Congressional members of the House Intelligence Committee, or the House Judiciary Committee. Lastly, for all of you Bush apologists and OPSEC freaks who will come on here and say that the information I have just given out will end the world and arm the terrorists with a weapon of mass destruction, you can all kiss my behind. For years I worked in the PDA intelligence branch and had to sit silently while Director Quinn toured the country giving lectures and speeches on every nomenclature and operation of the PDA and its software. I actually read one article on the internet where Director Quinn spoke at a Tech Conference and literally gave them every single piece of information regarding the operation and capabilities of the PDA. So if you have an OPSEC problem, take it up with your boy Thomas Quinn. Thank You ABC and Mr. Ross for finally exposing this corrupt and criminal FAMS enterprise.

Jarhead:
Having the ACLU on one’s side is not a ringing endorsement. It’s an organization I have despised for decades. Your Mr. Tererri may well have a case, but as far as a WH conspiracy goes, please supply facts, not supposition. I have not seen nor read anything that would lead a reasonable and prudent person to believe that the President or anyone at the White House has anything to do with conspiring to hide the problem you describe.
It is this type of unsubstantiated talk in an arena of debate that can cast one’s position in severe doubt.

No core:
Why don’t you just sign off as “Al Gore”. Geez. talk about a forum for Bush-haters.

Please Brian Ross, please continue this story. There is so much more out there. This corruption has gone on unabated for years. FAMs continue to simply quit the job in alarming numbers. The management is not too concerned. They tell us we will be replaced with FAMs that are trained differently and will not whine about how they do things.
http://www.wsvn.com/features/articles/specialreport/
C106/
This report and the associated violations of our OPSEC rules and common sense has been reported countless times by FAMs. It has been up for years on the internet and flying FAMs refer to it as the Al Qaeda FAM Training Tape. Why not give the enemy a snapshot of EXACTLY how we train and work to protect the public.
Brian Ross, please put out a call for any resigning FAMs to speak to you live on camera or for background. Each office is losing a handful each month. There are twenty-one offices. We are bleeding out.
This kind of insanity is the reason many of these ex-Secret Svc managers belong in prison. They are helping make another 9/11 style attack successful.

Not Yet,
You said to Las Vegas Air Marshal;
“All the venom you spew forth about “Door Stops” contains nothing positive in the debate for your side of the argument.”
His side of the argument? His side of the argument accurately states the feelings of 95% of the flying fams. Not the 5% of fams(who work in the office and don’t fly) who are not disgusted with management.
What is YOUR side of the argument? You are either management or one of the Chosen Ones hand-picked by your SAC and sent to the focus groups to reinforce the false sense that the service is “on the right track”
If the Director Brown is reading this please reconsider allowing the SACs to hand pick the YesMen who go to the focus groups.
Does there need to be a focus group on who goes to the focus groups? C’mon, this is pure common sense.

I AM A FLYING FAM, IT IS MONDAY, 3 DAYS AFTER THE 20/20 SHOW, THE MANAGERS IN NEW YORK HAD A MEETING THIS MORNING AND NOTHING WAS MENTIONED ABOUT THE SHOW, THESE SECRET SERVICE LOW LIFES. LAUGH AT THE FACT THAT THE NAMES OF THE SECRET SERVICE WAS NOT MENTIONED. TO GET THIS PROBLEM SORTED OUT, WE NEED WASHINGTON TO CLEAN HOUSE, WE NEED TO BRING UP THE GUYS IN THE AIR MARSHAL SERVICE TO STEP UP AND TAKE THE PLACE OF THE SECRET SERVICE, AND TO STOP THESE PEOPLE DOUBLE DIPPING. IT IS TIME FOR THEM TO GO. THE PUBLIC DOES NOT NEED THERE TAX DOLLARS SPENT IN THIS WAY. THE FLYING PUBLIC NEED TO KNOW THAT THE AGENTS AT THE AIR MARSHAL SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC, WE ALL SIGNED UP AFTER 9/11 FOR OUR OWNS REASONS. NOT ONE OF THEM WAS NEGETIVE. AGAIN, CONGRESS GET RID OF THE SECRET SERVICE LOW LIFES, THIS HAS TO BE DONE TODAY, WE HAVE PEOPLE TO TAKE THE PLACE OF THEM. THANKS AGAIN FOR BRINGING THIS TO THE PUBLIC EYE.

What is “just wondering ” wondering about ? Haven’t you been reading all of the posts in this blotter ?
How many FAMS does it take to convince people that there is a major problem with malfeasance in FAMS management. This is not a situation of malcontents, we are talking about almost all of (95 %) the Federal Air Marshals saying the same thing. How many more FAMS does “just wondering” want to lose their jobs for speaking out.You think that the NAME is necessary ?
Has anyone mentioned that they have forced so many FAMS to leave that they now have useless managers sitting around with their fingers in their ears ?

You are right…don’t trust anything you read or see. Go, see for yourself. I trust being the “reasonable and prudent” person that you are, you too will be able to “spot the air marshal”. Hey my three year old can do it.
To all spouses… I feel your pain. Maybe we should start our own blog. I bet collectively we could come up with better solutions and ways to manage this agency.
Please, when are congress and the media going to start asking why the GOVT regulates flight hours for airline employees but does not regulate flight hours for FAMS. I have watched my thirty year old husband’s health slowly deteriorate. He has been like all FAMS at some point, in three different time zones (including international)in one week. I have seen him come home ashin with dark circles. Never has he complained about his health or the constant demands that flying puts on his body. Demoralized, yes absolutely. He is out protecting his country and it’s people like the rest of the flying FAMS. With all the problems that upper management has created, these FAMS are still stepping up to the plate, knowing the kind of grave danger they are in. If the SAICS and ASAICS had the type of stress in their lives that Flying FAMS have, they would stop double dipping and quit. I think they should be required to fly daily. Actually…thats really scarey.
To all of FAMS and their families, Stay safe and God Bless.

At the Las Vegas field office, we have lost close to 60% of our original force due to air marshals quitting in absolute disgust. That number is also accurate agency wide.
Do not believe the agency spokesperson (hack) Dave “Baghdad Bob” Adams when he tells you the attrition loss is only 4.5%, because these former Secret Service criminals truly believe it is alright to lie to Congress and the American public under the disguise of “National Security”.
THIS IS CRIMINAL FRAUD!
ps. Speaking in terms of “percentages” is NOT releasing Security Sensitive Information (SSI).

TO NYFO FLYING FAM:
THANKS FOR THE UPDATE. MY HUSBAND IS ALSO A NYFO FAM AND IS IN THE AIR. TODAY. HE TOLD ME THAT THERE WOULD BE A MEETING THIS MORNING – I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY NEVER EVEN MENTIONED THE SHOW! I CAN’T WAIT TO TELL HIM.
STAY SAFE!

Dear Concerned Citizen:
Sounds to me like you are more of a scared SAC or some other manager (and I use the term manager very loosely). Even though I did leave the FAMs, you can not begin to imagine the stuff these brave men and women put up with on a daily basis. If you are a citizen then you would only want the best protecting yourself, your family, your friends, and your fellow Americans. This in no longer the case. So many quality men and women have already been forced out of a position that I dare say everyone of them loved and cared about. But a person can and will only take so much abuse. If your truly concerned then call upon your congress and senate to look into all of the formentioned problems this agency has been subjected too.
To Gary:
Sorry to hear you didnt make it through your situation either bro. I feel for you but know that you’ll make it through. Feel free to get hold of my original partner, he knows how to reach me. P.S. congrats on expecting the new baby

MR ROSS… PLEASE KEEP DIGGING AND DON’T LIMIT YOUR INVESTIGATION INTO POLICIES THAT ARE OLD NEWS, LIKE DRESS CODE. THERE IS FAR MORE SUBSTANCE TO THE ISSUES AND DON’T STAY AT THE SURFACE. MAKE THIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO TSA MANAGEMENT IN TOTAL. THE FAMS EXPERIENCE WITH INCOMPENTE SS MANAGERS IS TRUE THROUGHOUT TSA. OF COURSE, THEY AREN’T ALL SS, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A RETIRED SS GUY TO BE INCOMPETENT – JUST LOOK AT THE TOP LEADERSHIP AT TSA. DIG, DIG, DIG AND STAY ON THE ENTIRE STORY!

Don Strange is the one man with the experience and courage to LEAD the Air Marshals. I hope someone in a position of a power who cares will find this out.
At least Tom Quinn is now known and proven publicly to be a liar. All of the flying FAMs have known it for years, now the American public and Lyle Lovett can know Tom Quinn is a liar – plain and simple.

To all “unhappy” FAMS – Stop whining or seek employment elsewhere. It’s that simple. You either go by the rules or not. How hard could that be to understand.

It’s difficult to go by the rules when leadership breaks them. So, fine example they set that should be followed.
Also, by attempting to place fear, ridicule and intimidate employees is the wrong attitude for management to have, only shows your true side.
God Bless.

To All:
Here is the deal. There is a difference between management and leadership. Management, poor as it is, is what we have. I’ll try not to ramble on here, but I may shift gears a few times. What is Homeland Security? Didn’t that used to be called Department of Defense? With a 4 star General in charge we can still have civilian employees. The FAM should not be conducting law enforcement but counter-terrorism. Let’s start by getting rid of the Field Offices. Make Regional Offices where you go once a quarter for training. This would save millions and get all the office pogs back in the air. Anything to do with an aircraft should be FAMS jurisdiction. With a SWAT Team FAMs could get out of flying for a little while. We don’t have a “job”, we have a “duty”, because that hand was raised and an oath was sworn. So, to those that say if you don’t like it; leave. I say we should all stand up for what is right and not be a robot. Anyone interested can also look on delphiforums and enter keywords “air marshal” to see what has been discussed in the rank and file for years. I seem to remember getting e-mails from higher up concerning different FAMs suffering from cancer. All had a clean bill of health when they started. All are different colors, races, age brackets and sexes from across the country. What do they have in common? They are FAMs. How many flying FAMs are former or retired Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps., Coast Guard, Police, Deputy Sheriffs, Firefighters, Detectives, Correctional Officers, Attorneys, Doctors, or Nurses? 99%. Why did we need to hire these other guys as managers? Because none of the above had experience. That is a real “Gimme a break”. When new directives come out they don’t supercede the old directive so you are hard pressed to know which one to follow. If they did supercede the old one then they would state that on the new one. Managers job basically is to review your time sheet (since FAMs do thier own) and review your travel voucher for over 120,000.00 a year plus their pension. Maybe HR at the regional Office could do that.I was told my job is to fly. No it is not. My job is to detect, deter and defeat hostile acts with effective deploymnet. That doesn’t mean fly 5 days a week with split days off. We have all made sacrifices for our country and will continue to do so, while we are looking out for others, who is looking out for us? I know for a FACT that this will be bigger than Whitewater, Watergate, or Iran-Contra. Watch out though, these guys will smile in your face and stab you in the back, double talk you to death or if all else fails pull the “National Security” card. Let’s look at the last 6 months. Miami shooting, Houston FAMs arrested, Quality Survey distibuted, DHS racked across the coals for Katrina and now this story. If things don’t change now, they never will. When a supervisor flys while doing a “Check Ride” I am more worried because they are a liability. They have lower firearms standards, don’t have to participate in any training (i.e. strength, endurance, tactics, legal, etc.), but they are going to tell me what to do and how to do it? If nothing happens than they will counsel you on looking out the window too much on the flight (true story). Let’s make this program work by scapping it and starting fresh. I don’t want to hear anymore that it’s a new agency and about growing pains.

I would just like to say sorry to all Fams that still have to put up with the daily crap of boarding and your retired supervisor. This agency still thinks it can place all it’s problems under this excepted service clause. I still ask Fams if anything has changed and They all say nothing for the good. I still wonder If The Fam service will ever come thru with what they had promised Fams before they had got hired. The pay is better than most agency’s but it’s not worth the worry of being wrote up for youe cell phone being over the mins or a flight attd saying you were asleep on a flight and taking thier word over yours. You Fams must really hate being threated with the on the beach thing. Just hang in there it cant last this way forever. Remember the 5 year contrats on the retirees is coming up and I don’t believe the contract should be renewed. That was quinn’s thing and thank god he is gone!!!!!Oh ya what about all being I band? Or 1811 ha ha? What happened to all the Fams that got terminated over Top secert clearence? I heard that was a way to cut back on the force, and most had went to appeal boards that were already decided to pick and choose who to keep and who to fire. I wonder If anything was ever done about that? I was hoping there was a law suit filed for wrongful termination for those Fams. We got a waiver so that means you must have been some what ok? I know of good people that were released with no problems on there background and some were kept that you could not believe what was on there backgrounds.I don’t remember one bit of material we seen as top secret. All Fams hang in there God Bless everyone of you, My prayers for you and your Families!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I total agree with this story. I fly every week and it is very easy to spot a FAM. Typically, there are at least two of them on my flight. Their protocols are all of the same. At least they started traveling with Notebooks & a rollerboard to look more like a consultant.
To the FAM’s, thanks for your help in keeping our airlines safe!

It is very sad to see that nothing has changed since I left the FAMS in 2003. We were suckered into believing the benefits that were promised to us. Those of us that were fortunate did get highspeed training for a few weeks, but that soon ended. When I got to my office in CVG I was amazed by the idiots running the show there. The former Secret Service Joker that ran the office scared me so much I quit. I was fortunate. I had a good job to go back to. Many of my friends that still fly werent that fortunate. Keep up the fight and I will say a prayer for you.

Feather in one’s cap – A

Hey guys, I work at the Pentagon as a Police Officer and we are having the same issues. I will come up foward soon and unmask all the hypocrite that’s been messing with all of us for a while. I got all the proof I need, I’ve just don’t know yet how I want to do it. So hang on guys, your time will come soon, and don’t forget whose smile last, laughs better.