I also remember when I started at TSA. I didn’t start on November 19th, 2001 when TSA was created, but I did start shortly after in 2002 and was part of the team that Federalized Cincinnati’s CVG airport. We’ve come so far since then. I remember a very dedicated group of people who were very eager to learn and to protect their country. In many cases, people had left jobs that paid more money because of their desire to find a way to serve their country.
While security screening at airports wasn’t new, we were recreating it. Everything was a learning experience and we took every opportunity to improve upon procedures and the way things were done. That’s still going on today. We’ve gone from using technology from the 1970s to using state of the art equipment such as the body scanners. We still strive to find ways to strengthen and improve our procedures according to the latest intelligence as well as continue to do so in our commitment to keep the flying public safe.
Take a look at this post from last summer on all of the things we’ve accomplished since our inception. You can see just how far we’ve come and get an idea of how much further along we’ll be in the next 10 years.
Blogger Bob Burns
TSA Blog Team
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.
If you’d like to comment on an unrelated topic you can do so in our Off Topic Comments post. You can also view our blog post archives or search our blog to find a related topic to comment in. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact a Customer Support Manager at the airport you traveled, or will be traveling through by using Talk to TSA.
46 comments:
10 years and how many terrorists have you caught?
By Becky Akers
Ten Years Of The TSA (Yes, It Seems Much Longer)
"So because the TSA makes work for the otherwise unemployable, passengers should suck it up and spread their legs.
Let’s give ourselves a present on the TSA’s tenth birthday: let’s demand Congress do more than merely wring its hands over this horrific boondoggle. Abolish the TSA."
Comment to the individual who commented how many terrorist have we caught; Did you forget about the ex army fellow in florida that tried to take a pipe bomb on the plane with him and got caught by a BDO? Is that not terrorism?
Do you seriously not intend to respond to the congressional report that described you as a bloated, wasteful, and ineffective agency in need of urgent and major reform?
The whole TSA thing sounded like a good idea 10 years ago. It has proven that it's not. I think the SuperCommittee should start with you guys.
« We’ve gone from using technology from the 1970s to using state of the art equipment such as the body scanners.»
Convenient how you neglect to mention the $30+ million in taxpayer money wasted on the ill-fated puffer machines.
And Bob, of all the great finds you always tout, how many were found by the scanners and how many were found by that quaint 1970's technology of metal detectors and baggage x-rays?
The ceramic knife you found with AIT just doesn't justify the hundreds of millions of dollars.
[Screenshot captured.]
Anonymous asks: Did you forget about the ex army fellow in florida that tried to take a pipe bomb on the plane with him and got caught by a BDO? Is that not terrorism?
Oh, you mean this guy? The guy who didn't have an assembled bomb, only components? The guy whose materials could not have been assembled into a bomb, according to airline officials? The guy who both airline officials and TSA said never put passengers in any danger?
If no one was ever in danger, how could that be terrorism?
There does need to be some sort of security screening before boarding commercial aircraft. Maybe suggestions are in order as to how to improve it. However, I think the US Government is missing the best and most effective manner of securing airplanes -- four fully armed Air Marshals on every jumbo jet that enters US airspace (two on the 50-seat regional flights). This could be paid for with a $150 per round-trip surcharge on every ticket sold for a jumbo-jet flight entering US airspace ($75 for small regional flights). There is no reason that I can think of for not implementing this immediately. So what if those $189 flights to Las Vegas no longer exist (which many if not most Americans can't use anyway because coach seats aren't large enough for them and $150 added to a $1100 first class round-trip ticket is minimal relatively speaking), at least terrorists will not be able to crash any more planes into our skyscrapers! I know I would be much more comfortable with flying with armed, uniformed Air Marshals on every flight with orders to shoot and kill any terrorists that attempt to hijack a plane.
Another advantage is that the $150 fee would probably also cover TSA security expenses on the ground -- and taxpayers would no longer have to subsidize airport security for the minority that actually fly commercial.
Anonymous said...
"10 years and how many terrorists have you caught?"
The purpose of the TSA is not, and never has been, to catch terrorists. If they actually expected to catch terrorists the check points would be staffed with armed guards and have concrete barriers.
The goal of the TSA's big security show is to convince any would-be terrorist that getting at an airplane is just too hard so they don't even try.
The big elephant-in-the-room problem with this tactic is "what happens next?"
If the terrorist doesn't go the airport and just goes somewhere else to attach, how have people been made safer?
The TSA is totally focused on the airports and totally ignores the big picture of what effects they have outside the airport.
If the TSA self-sponsored a birthday party, I doubt most American families would attend, unless forced.
In fact, passing through a TSA checkpoint is a little bit like going to a birthday party when you really do not want to attend; and to make matters worse, the guests (taxpayer travelers) think the hosts (TSA) are less than dishonorable, and the guests are forced to pay for the party (with tax dollars).
A Federal Court ordered that TSA conduct a citizen comment period regarding the Whole Body Imaging systems that TSA deployed without following standing governemnt guidelines.
When will TSA comply with the courts order?
Happy birthday! Could you let us, the tax payers, know how much total money has been allocated to the TSA in those 10 years?
I'm sure I could find that information myself and add it all up, but you probably have it handy, so I'd appreciate your assistance with this.
This blog never ceases to amaze me. Space Invaders? Really? What a professional way to represent a government agency that's supposedly responsible for thwarting homicidal maniacs.
Oh, about that congressional report that was released last week... I recommend reading that whenever you aren't trying to come up with fascinating childhood anecdotes.
Simply Happy Birthday! And don't be demoralised by the moaners!!!
The TSA is a classic example of the saying "If your only tool is a hammer every problem looks like a nail".
Their response to every new threat is "more screening". It doesn't make any difference if more screening is the most effective response or even if it works at all.
There isn't anyone at the top evaluating if this is right thing to do. The result is the mess we have today.
How many bonified terrorist threats have you stopped? How much business have you driven from the airlines? How many weapons have you let through? In 10 short years, how did you overtake the IRS as the most hated government agency? How many TSA agents have been arrested from criminal behavior whil on the job? If TSA really wanted to be effective, they would identify the "good guys" and ask for help.
Instead TSA works hard to ineffectively upset everyone. I guess if the government upsets everyone equally, then diversity goals will have been met.
I know many ex military and police that have a seething hatred for the TSA.
What are the TSA's accomplishments in the past 10 years?
How does the TSA compare to the 10 years prior to the TSA when the Airlines handled their own security at a cost of $0 to the taxpayer?
How does the TSA justify its huge budget when the airlines have already proven they can do better with less equipment, do it safer, screw up less, not embarrass or harass the travelers, and not cost the taxpayer anything?
I used to love flying before the TSA started "papers please" and regulating the size of a tube of toothpaste!
It is sad when in the land of the free, you can't even walk your child up to the gate and hug them goodbye unless you buy a boarding pass, too! It seems that in a free society in an airport paid for by tax dollars, ANYBODY (traveler or not) should be able to walk up to the gate! Sure, without a ticket, the airlines are not going to let you fly, but what right does the TSA even have telling a tax payer they can't walk their kid to the gate because it is a "secure area?"
If the security measures are so rock-sold/good, the sensible thing would be for the TSA to let anybody through to the "secure area" provided they submit to the same TSA security measures as travelers & present ID.
Before the TSA, anybody who went through the metal detectors and had their personal items x-rayed by airline security was permitted to go past the checkpoint. This is how it should be. Anything else is a violation of the constitution.
Bob, I went out of JFK and the professional ID looker-atter had evidently not paid attention during the training and didn't now what a NEXUS card was, and the supervisory ID looker-atter didn't know what one was either, and there were eventually four people over there, none of whom knew things it was their job to know. When is the TSA going to start firing people who don't care anything about doing their jobs? I asked the supervisory ID looker-atter for her name and she said she'd write it down and bring it to me but she didn't. Also, the people working the X-ray managed to take 20 minutes to get about 7 or 8 people through. Is there training for knowing what you're supposed to be looking at? If not, why not, and if so, when is TSA going to start firing people for not paying attention during the training?
This is JFK, this is where many many people come in for visits. Do you think it's right that their last impression of the US is one of a government agency whose employees can't do their jobs and don't care about learning to do their jobs?
Working in a team , whose member are always keen on learning always makes a great opportunities for all team members. And working for nearly 10 years at a stretch is something which can not be achieved without sheer determination.
I'm really afraid to think about how far you'll go in the next 10 years. It scares me to think about it.
This is an agency that ignores science and common sense and invades my privacy and time. All that with no terrorist caught. There is no cause for celebration.
10 years of growth..still needs reformation.
"Working in a team , whose member are always keen on learning always makes a great opportunities for all team members. And working for nearly 10 years at a stretch is something which can not be achieved without sheer determination."
In ten more years, a majority of the workforce may even recognize the Nexus card. It's a stretch, admittedly but, hey, you have to dream don't you?
The complaints about TSA not catching terrorists in 10 years are valid, but another issue is how lame the list of "accomplishments" is.
I'm well aware of the importance of the TSA, as we definitely couldn't have been living the same way we are now without them. That being said, we wish you all a Happy 10th Birthday!
Hope you continue to implement and keep the country safe!
I encourage all Americans, after passing through airport security, to take a few minutes before rushing off to their gate.
Watch the operation. Watch innocent Americans present their papers in order to travel. Watch them disrobe into a bucket. Watch them with their feet spread and arms over their head. Watch them get strip searched. Watch them submit to government agents running their hands over every inch of their body.
I wonder how many of them will be sick to their stomach.
Yes, you've accomplished so much. You've taken our liberty to mitigate a risk smaller than the drive to the airport.
You're clearly very proud. I'm not sure how you sleep at night knowing what you've done to our country.
I am glad that my tax dollars are going to the TSA!! These people keep us safe every day. As Americans we forget the horrible attack on our country that took place 10 short years ago!! Thank you, to all the hard working TSA employees that support our country by keeping the skies safe!! Some of the people commenting should be ashamed of themselves....Keep up the good work TSA..
A Grateful USA citizen!
Mike Toreno said...
"The complaints about TSA not catching terrorists in 10 years are valid, but another issue is how lame the list of "accomplishments" is."
Not catching terrorists isn't really a good argument because the people in the TSA aren't going to see this as a failure. They will just claim they are so good that the terrorists are afraid to come to the airport. Of course, this ignores the question of what the terrorists are doing instead of going to the airport. They don't cease to exist.
Anonymous said...
"As Americans we forget the horrible attack on our country that took place 10 short years ago!!"
Nonsense, no one has forgotten.
We just don't believe that the TSA is doing an effective job of improving our safety. The money would be better spent other places.
Hello from South Africa.
I just wanted to send my admiration for the professional manner in which you American people approach a situation as what faced you all after 9/11. Truly, I take my hat off to you all.
It's amazing what one can achieve when the hearts and minds of the people center around one common goal.
What the TSA has achieved will also help other airliines to "beef" up their security.
Well done.
Another vacuous self-congratulation. Yay.
I don't know if it's really a happy birthday, after all the TSA was established because of a horrible event.
I hope the TSA will improve in the next ten years. There is definitely room for that.
Nadav
Quoted:
"It is sad when in the land of the free, you can't even walk your child up to the gate and hug them goodbye unless you buy a boarding pass, too! It seems that in a free society in an airport paid for by tax dollars, ANYBODY (traveler or not) should be able to walk up to the gate! Sure, without a ticket, the airlines are not going to let you fly, but what right does the TSA even have telling a tax payer they can't walk their kid to the gate because it is a "secure area?"
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This is blatantly untrue!
TSA doesn't tell you you can't go to the gate. TSA allows you to got to the gate with a boarding pass or GATE PASS. The airline can (it's up to them) issue you a gate pass to see your minor, elderly relative, person needing assistance, etc. to the gate. They do it here all day long. TSA allows you access with a gate pass at which point you are screened like any other passenger. If the airline refuses to issue you a gate pass, it is they, not TSA refusing you access to the gate. That is the airline making the call on whether you have business at the gate. Everyone on here crows all the time as to how TSA should leave decisions up to the airline. In this case they have so now you throw it back on the TSA. Check your facts.
Happy birthday TSA!!!
-Tim "H2H"
Bob, any explanation for why the JFK TSA don't want to do their jobs? When is the TSA going to start firing people for not knowing or caring how to do their jobs?
Bob,
Your postings are a “mixed bag”. On one hand, I applaud you for choosing to join the TSA on your stated basis of being appalled by terrorist attacks. On the other hand, I can’t help but wonder, if you read your own posting, gazing upon it with a perspective of all that’s transpired in our history, over the eras of tyranny and oppression, Am I the only one who sees a little red light going off, and a strange feeling of irony pass over me as I read how one is proud to be part of the federalization of a private entity? I originally wanted to criticize the TSA on the basis of its failure to justify its own existence, citing its accomplishments, or lack thereof. However, since you have enumerated those accomplishments, I’ll just address each on its own merits:
In-flight security – I have to give you guys a gold star on this one, hands-down. Excellent, proactive work! I am curious though to that end… I never realized that the legislation to allow crewmembers to carry firearms was ever approved. Bravo if it has, but if not, then your assertion on that point is inaccurate and should be updated.
Secure Flight – Again, another GREAT idea. Of course, if other agencies were doing their job in this area as effectively as you guys are, then more attention could be paid to screening those entering the country, not those already here.
Professionalized workforce – Based on my experiences, I’m afraid you’ve earned an “F” here. The biggest failing here is that the TSO’s seem to forget that the terrorist threat comes from outside America, and the treatment of American citizens as potential threats is unwarranted to most, and is an injustice and offense to others, such as those who have fought for America, yet are told their water bottle represents a potential threat to the security of an airplane full of strangers whom they’d likely die to protect. Shame on you.
New Technology – I’m going to give you an “I” here, Incomplete, because although you do strive to implement the latest technology, you have failed to demonstrate that it has made planes any safer. Please don’t tout the list of all the things you’ve “caught”, or I’ll be forced to move that to a “D”. A gun is not an inherent threat to the safety of an aircraft. On the other hand, someone who would use a gun to hijack one is, whether he has a gun or not.
Information sharing – This one is a no-brainer, and should have been around LONG ago, but that’s not the TSA’s fault. I’m concluding that the end justifies the means, and say that you’ve earned an “A” here. Better late than never… Thanks, nice job.
So, in conclusion, I’m inclined to support Rep. John Mica’s (R-FL) decisions to create the TSA, based on the demonstrated need for its mission, and to dismantle it in its current form, based on its failure to meet its own stated objectives.
Somehow, the TSA has grown from what should be an effective internal solution to protecting the American public through intelligent, proactive measures such as those stated above, into this mammoth make-work organization, which consumes billions of dollars of public funds in a time of grave economic need, in an effort to make people “feel safe”.
Propaganda, typically thought of as a tool of socialism, is no stranger to the free world. In WWII, the US frequently produced “right-think” movies to help galvanize the public against the Axis, educate, motivate, and involve common citizens in civil defense and the war effort, etc. At least this medium was used for altruistic reasons, with the true goal of winning a war against a frightening and brutal enemy. This “feel safe” propaganda being foisted on the public today with all the airport security is a nonsensical ploy by politicians and policymakers to make people feel safe, because those same people are either too weak or too inept to provide real security.
Happy birthday TSA. May you continue to do well at what you excel, and have the wisdom to abandon that at which you do not.
"TSA doesn't tell you you can't go to the gate. TSA allows you to got to the gate with a boarding pass or GATE PASS. The airline can (it's up to them) issue you a gate pass to see your minor, elderly relative, person needing assistance, etc. to the gate... If the airline refuses to issue you a gate pass, it is they, not TSA refusing you access to the gate. That is the airline making the call on whether you have business at the gate. Everyone on here crows all the time as to how TSA should leave decisions up to the airline. In this case they have so now you throw it back on the TSA. Check your facts."
The last sentence is fair enough but why doesn't the TSA make this more widely known? I travel extensively and was aware of the existence of a gate pass but I'm surprised by the number of people who don't. For instance, I recently saw in DEN a mother (I presume), see off her UM daughter at security. Surely someone should have let her know she could see her daughter to the gate, don't you think?
On the other hand, good input from a TSA employee. Much better than the "you don't have the right to hijack a privately owned aircraft" thread.
TSM writes: TSA doesn't tell you you can't go to the gate. TSA allows you to got to the gate with a boarding pass or GATE PASS. The airline can (it's up to them) issue you a gate pass to see your minor, elderly relative, person needing assistance, etc. to the gate.
So, getting to the gate requires both the consent of TSA and the airline. You can't simply claim that it's the airline's fault if they won't give you a gate pass. It's also TSA's fault for requiring a gate pass.
Back in the pre-9/11 days, anybody could pass through a security checkpoint, without showing ID or boarding passes or gate passes. TSA started requiring both ID and either boarding passes or gate passes post-9/11. It thus can't absolve itself of all blame for denying non-passengers access to the sterile area.
Quoted:" Jim Huggins said...
TSM writes: TSA doesn't tell you you can't go to the gate. TSA allows you to got to the gate with a boarding pass or GATE PASS. The airline can (it's up to them) issue you a gate pass to see your minor, elderly relative, person needing assistance, etc. to the gate.
So, getting to the gate requires both the consent of TSA and the airline. You can't simply claim that it's the airline's fault if they won't give you a gate pass. It's also TSA's fault for requiring a gate pass.
Back in the pre-9/11 days, anybody could pass through a security checkpoint, without showing ID or boarding passes or gate passes. TSA started requiring both ID and either boarding passes or gate passes post-9/11. It thus can't absolve itself of all blame for denying non-passengers access to the sterile area.
December 2, 2011 10:50 AM"
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Uh, reread your own post... The answer is "9/11".
Quoted:
"The last sentence is fair enough but why doesn't the TSA make this more widely known? I travel extensively and was aware of the existence of a gate pass but I'm surprised by the number of people who don't."
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Hmmm, I dunno.... MAYBE THEY SHOULD ASK!!
I can think of nothing less happy than recognizing another year suffering under the leering, groping, harassing, ineffective, inefficient, intolerable TSA regime.
10 years to allow people with questionable intentions to paw your genitals.
I feel so much safer now.
Just think a few years ago I was not able to experience a thorough groping to be safe.
I wonder when the local supermarket will begin invasive strip searches and grope downs to make sure my produce is "safe" and no terrorists with machetes will be lurking beneath the lemons?
What a waste.
2,000,000 person-hours per day times 365 days times 10 years = 7.3 billion person-hours wasted on TSA security theater. And for what? The best possible result that TSA can hope to achieve is to displace the terrorists from the the planes and into the checkpoints themselves, as happens in places with non-imaginary terrorists.
What a waste.
Congress advises major and total reform of your agency and you're wishing yourselves "happy birthday"? And you've never stopped a terrorist attack.
I look forward to the day when the TSA is gone for good. It has accomplished nothing and violates the rights of travelers.
Even with all the hate I've been hearing about the TSA, surely we can't live without them doing their job. As long as they make Transportation a safer process then we should be grateful they're there to do their job, so I then wish you a happy birthday!
Is this post old enough yet?
Will you allow a post pointing out the irony of H2H wishing you a Happy Bday many days after the actual date?
Will you approve this post this time?
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