Originally Posted by
RadioGirl
It was your quote above, that said:
Somehow I got the impression it was wheelchair bound vets. Unless you've got vets with psychological impairment being left on the curb in wheelchairs?
The post you provided - "curb", "taxi", "wheelchair", "gate" "luggage" still doesn't match what the TSA website says which mentions ONLY the checkpoint.
I understand from the TSA website that it's a national program. I also understand from that website that it's a national program about getting through the checkpoint. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt that
at SAT you were also helping with curbside assistance, pushing wheelchairs, at the gate, since you say you are doing those things. But the TSA website does not give any indication that nationally, TSA is meeting veterans at the curb, pushing wheelchairs, etc.
And as I noted from my own personal experience, the airlines are reasonably proficient about providing wheelchair assistance to anyone, veteran or not, who requests it.
I searched, I read.
Here's one about whether active military gets searched like everyone else (consensus is, they do.)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...rched-too.html
Here's another one on the same topic.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-security/1202637-active-duty-military-pat-downs.html
Ahh, this must be the one you mean:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-...ard-again.html
It's about TSA providing an "honor guard" to meet the
casket of
deceased servicemen. I suppose strictly speaking, a deceased serviceman in a coffin is a "wounded" veteran
, and an honor guard meeting the flight is "escorting" them
, but somehow its not really the same as helping a live but wounded person from the taxi at the curb, pushing their wheelchair, finding their luggage, or taking them to the gate for their next flight.
And here's another one:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-...e-me-sick.html Same airport, different day, same story. Deceased soldier, casket, honor guard.
I can't find anything where anyone is "disgusted" that you meet live, wounded veterans at their gate. If someone has said that, please feel free to provide a link to the actual thread and post, not just a "someone said somewhere."
So are you helping out disabled passengers (veterans and non-veterans alike) because it's a nice thing to do when the airlines can't manage, or is this a formal TSA program for veterans, regardless of whether the airline also has adequate wheelchair pushers?
I used vets in wheelchairs as its the most common I have seen - and because its the mroe than likely the most easily understood by people on this site. I have also helped those with missing limbs, but not in wheelchairs, those with severe burns on their arms/hands, etc. And I have tried to explain all the situations that I have encounted or know about, from them being left at the curb side by cabs without further assistance, to them being left at the gate. However, mostly what I have encounted is meeting them upon arrival at the gate, to help them get their luggage, and bring them to a cab/shuttle. Which, of course, does not include screening at all.
And you are correct, sometimes the airlines are profecient, but to assume that is the standard - well, you may travel more than I, but I have spent more time in airports than you in the last 10 years, and they are far from proficient. I have encounted a multitude of people in distress becasue they could not get assistance with a wheelchair, or someone to carry their bags because they were on crutches. Airports only staff so many sky caps, and at the busier times of the year, they are in greater demand - which means some are left stranded for more than a bit of time.
No, I will not provide links. I don't feel like searching for it. And it does not matter to me if don't believe it, nor can not find it. Regardless, its on this site. They are burried in some threads - as you very well know that these threads take a life of their own, and often what is discussed has NOTHING to do with the title of the thread. My time is a bit more valuable to spend all that time looking through easily a hundred threads over the last 6 to 9 months. You, however, are free to do so, to cruise through every post on here for that time period....
Scratch that, I did a VERY QUICK search on Google (gotta love Francine, the Googling Lawyer), and found this thread from 2007 - where TSA is attacked by some for meeting wounded soldiers at the gate. So you can believe me or not, but there are many more comments like the ones you will read in this thread.... Here is one such comment:
"Funny, that's not what I thought the TSA is for. It is certainly not what my "September 11th Security Fee" moneys are intended for. Now if the local airport authority wants to hire LEO's to do this, so be it. The USO is also an appropriate entity to assist returning soldiers. If the TSA'holes are doing this on their own time, great, but then they should not be in uniform.
What next? TSA carrying the bags of returning sport teams? "
Anothe Quote: "I think the TSA should look for terrorists and bombs, not escort soldiers to the baggage claim area."
Another: " I have a lot of disdain and bad feelings about the TSA. I do not want an organization that terrorizes the average American citizen to buy "public PR" on my tax dollars.
You can all go greet vets all you like, but please don't do it under the guise of "the TSA really cares about you and our soldiers"
Last one I promise: "DO IT ON YOUR OWN TIME, JUST LIKE YOU SHOULD DO THE SOLDIER GREETS ON YOUR OWN TIME, NOT WHILE YOU'RE ON MY (THE TAXPAYERS') DIME."
There were more nasty comments, and some positive ones, too.
Now, this was before my time here at FT. I had not read this thread before (how did you miss it?). So, since I had not read this, yet can claim I have read similar comments up to recent months, the attitude I have described must not have gone away.... hmmmm....
Here is the link to that thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ing-pax-2.html
All the quote I post were from different memebers, and I didn't even come close to posting them all.
Lastly, the is an official program run JOINTLY between the DOD and DHS/TSA. It is not done because it is "nice". The DOD saw a problem NOT TSA. And the DOD asked TSA/DHS to help. You may think there is no problem obtaining wheelchairs for anyone who needs them (this last Christmas holiday I spent my lunch helping an adult woman and her very elderly grandmother get to the gate when they asked for help becuse there were not enough sky caps - simple fact, there are often not enought), but the truth is, the DOD saw a problem with what was happening.
Now, if you think there are enough sky caps, you should contact the DOD and tell them the wounded soldiers were making up stories about having to wait for assistance, or being left on their own (how do you THINK the DOD found out about it? Someone had to tell them ... @:-) ), but personally, I will trust the wounded military personal that they did have to wait, at multiple airports, on multiple times, enough that it was a national problem.
Whew. Sorry for the long post, but I hope this addressed your concerns.