First caught wind of it while watching the news, but the TSA (the kind folks who do the airport security) has got a blog were you can voice your rage and discontent. The admin person on this blog must've gotten boned with the worst Public Relations job in history since Kramer's PR guy following the Laugh Factory fiasco, so I admire his or her efforts to be nice:
Some have been downright mean and cranky but that’s okay too. For most people, this is the first chance to reach out directly to TSA and tell us about your experiences and we very much want to hear from you.
Well hell. I wouldn't be a true Navy junior officer if I wasn't a complete bitter wiseass, so I thought I'd drop them a comment concerning their handling us military personnel coming from Kuwait to Atlanta on R&R (a true story).
To Whom It May Concern,
Recently, I was with a group of military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan traveling from Kuwait to Atlanta for our 2-week R&R period. I appreciate the Atlanta TSA personnel thanking us for our service when we first stepped foot on American soil. That was a fine example of Southern hospitality! However, I found it a little baffling that we had to take off our combat boots, dogtags, belts, etc. to go through a metal detector. My questions are three-fold: 1) Why would we need to go through security when we just got off a plane that departed from an airport in Kuwait with very strict security measures and customs procedures. 2) In no cases to my knowledge have terrorists been wearing US-issued military uniforms with valid military IDs, why not just let us bypass security, and 3) Having us get undressed in such a fashion while in uniform in front of other civilian passengers was a little embarrassing, and it undermines the professional demeanor that we would like to ensure the American public understands we uphold. Thanks for your time!
Very Respectfully,
LT Nixon
The blog uses comment moderation, so I don't know if it's going to make the cut, but it's under this post somewhere posted on 2/1 @ 6:28am. I'll probably get in trouble for this, but whatever.
01 February 2008
So the TSA has Got This Blog...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
See what the others have said:
9 comments:
You know, you might be grateful
that they let you in to the terminal at all. Who know what chaos and mischief you military types might cause if we let you just mingle with the rest of us. Maybe you should rethink your position...
Haha, people might have to look us in the eye and realize that there is a war on.
War? What war, I don't have time for that, I've got shopping to get done
This is like from Alice in Wonderland, where we ALL may be but the shrooms they gave us are blocking our memories of real.
Real what? I don't know, they fed me the same ones they fed everyone else.
I gotta story--my son (LCDR USN--is that still junior??) was visiting the civilian in-laws about 4 days after he returned from deployment. I went to the airport at 5 a.m. to say goodby. They had already checked in and were at their gate, waiting.
The ticket agent gave me a pass because the kid was military and I was a MOM (the highest rank available). I didn't have luggage to check in because I WAS THERE TO SAY GOODBY TO DEPARTING PASSENGERS, ONE OF WHOM WAS A MILITARY OFFICER, AND I HAD A PASS THAT SAID SO.
They made me assume the "hold your arms up, like an airplane" position anyway. The plane was late taking off so I got to burp the fussy baby (grandmas know how to do this) and cuddle him (the baby--LCDR is kinda tall or I would).
Boadicaea,
Glad to know the highest rank (a MoM) has got my back. My own Mom has convinced the ticket counter to get a pass as well in the past, and as long as you say your offspring are in the military, they should let you into the passenger waiting area (at the airports I've seen).
Hey congrats, looks like you got a reply from TSA TOS NY!
Geezus...we had to go through the same routine in 2004...we could not help but point out that we were on the safest plane in HISTORY.
On the way back to Kuwait, well, I could understand maybe someone really did not want to go back...so there we were, practically undressing.
I still fail to understand why, with so many mil charter flights going thru ATL daily, they don't have us go through the private terminal or some other part of that place.
No, wait, ATL wouldn't feel good about it if they moved mil-folks to another place. Wouldn't be good PR for them.
*beating head against wall*
IV,
There comes a point when the culture of being "politically correct" goes too far, that's for sure.
Jason,
Thanks for the tip! I'll have to do a post on this one.
Two words:
Break wind.
The noisier, smellier, the better.
Post a Comment