Message To All Federal Security Directors And Federal Air Marshals Special Agents In Charge From Kip Hawley
News & Happenings
August 14, 2006
Today, as I reflect upon the enormity of the mission we have executed this week, I wanted to thank all of you who are the leadership of our frontline personnel. It is important to recognize the impact your leadership is bringing to this critical event. At no other time in our collective history has your performance – as leaders and as team mates – played a more pivotal role. You are delivering on a promise that we all made to the American people when we created TSA – that the layered security system provides enhanced protection that, when tested, will be able to respond. You have done that.
As managers, it is so often the 5 percent that consumes 80 percent of our time - and 95 percent of our personnel continue to come to work everyday, to fly missions, to be professionals, and often, to be constructive in their criticisms to enable the whole organization to improve. The majority of our personnel learn from the example you set everyday. They model the behaviors, and the attitudes, that you demonstrate. And they perform as trained, because you provided them that opportunity to learn.
Secretary Chertoff applauds you; I applaud you, and the American people are grateful to you. Thank you.This week, you, and they, rose to the challenge in a way that is simply phenomenal. Just think about it: across the entire TSA – across 450 plus airports, in every state and the U.S. territories, and on domestic and international FAM missions, TSA personnel provided the critical human performance to enable the Secretary of Homeland Security to act so dramatically on this threat to aviation security. I do not know of any enterprise – commercial or federal – that has covered so much territory, so quickly, literally in 4 hours, and performed so flawlessly.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on the eve of the United States’ entry into World War II, said to the American people: “ Never before in our Nation’s history have we had so little time to do so much”. When ATSA was signed on November 19, 2001, we all knew it would be an enormous challenge to build TSA. And we have continued to improve so many aspects of our operation from that first year to today. It is simply remarkable that so many, and particularly all of you, shared the collective vision and put the pieces together, to enable this level of performance when it mattered most.
Secretary Chertoff applauds you; I applaud you, and the American people are grateful to you. Thank you.
