Air Marshals Are Fleeing the Skies in Droves, But Who’s to Blame for the Mass Exodus?
Mary Minor Davis March 10, 2015
With the work environment changing and agency resources on the decline, large numbers of U.S. Air Marshals are fleeing the skies.
In the 2014 film “Non-Stop,” Liam Neeson plays an air-weary U.S. Air Marshal tasked with the burdensome duty of saving passengers on a hijacked airplane. These days, the Neeson character might be the best resource passengers can find on an airplane, assuming a Federal Air Marshal (FAM) can be found at all.
According to a report from the National Review, an ongoing mass exodus of agents, coupled with the TSA’s apparent gradual elimination of the service, is leaving FAMs in short supply.
Current and former agents told the National Review that FAMs are “looking for any excuse to exit the marshal service, repelled by the agency’s pattern of mistreating and endangering its employees, and its own concerted efforts to thin ranks through a hiring freeze and the closing of field offices.”
The National Review reports that a number of former agents believed the TSA “failed to protect them in the line of duty.” One former agent, Richard Vasquez, accused the TSA of failing to conceal his and other marshals’ identities on both domestic and international flights.
“Everything [the TSA] did set us up to get murdered,” said Vasquez. “That was the biggest thing: not trying to help us be covert at all.”
CNN recently detailed the contents of an internal memo from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an email which blamed budget cuts for the declining number air marshals over the past several years. The exact number of FAMs currently servicing the skies is unknown.
When TSA spokesman David Castelveter was asked about the FAM situation, he told the National Review that members of the senior leadership team were visiting field offices “in an attempt to boost morale” and “positively engage with employees.”
With agents leaving the job en mass and budget cuts reducing resources, the future of the FAM program is uncertain. Former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn wrote in his final report as the ranking member on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee:
The FAMs program was expanded due to the September 11 attacks, and the need to prevent potential disruptions … However, in part due to limited publicly available oversight evidence, it is unclear to what extent the FAMs program is reducing risk to aviation security, despite the more than $820 million annually that is spent on the program.
The TSA and DHS have not responded to FlyerTalk’s request for comment.
[Photo: iStock]
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"“Everything [the TSA] did set us up to get murdered,” said Vasquez. " Call a freakin waahmbulance. Point to ONE incident where an air marshall was attacked. I'll wait.
Now where will DHS find officers to guard the outside of stadiums during the World Series and the Super Bowl?
They have not. They have killed at least one civilian, though.
STARFLYER commented about FAM funding. I believe that all Aviation Security fees collected go to the general fund and not directly to DHS/TSA. So the TSA budget is where any decreases in funding are originating.
Has any of theese oficers EVER performed any duty on any plane where their status as such was necesarry,Im asking out of genuine ignorance??