Originally Posted by Bart
One part that bothers me is the apparent lack of confidence the bozos up the chain have in the screening workforce. I've been a member of some pretty elite organizations and the backbone of our effectiveness was always training, training and more training. It is how we maintained our proficiency. While I mean no direct comparison between these units and TSA, I will say that TSA is one of the most training-intensive organizations I've seen. We really get trained from all angles ranging from classroom instruction to online computer courses to no-notice performance evaluations to no-notice pop quizzes to special briefings. My point here is that with all that training, for TSA to place a general ban is to say that the staff weenies don't have confidence that we can tell the difference between a tampered bottle of liquid and untampered one. Again, this goes back to my number one criticism of TSA, its lack of effective leadership.
First, Bart, let me thank you for posting here. Must feel like a war-zone at times. Speaking for myself, I appreciate your common-sense perspective, and I certainly hope you run the checkpoint at Terminal 1, the terminal I usually fly out of at SAT.
With respect to the specific quote above, I can add a little perspective. I am currently on a job search, focused on the DC area. Although I have a high-level management background, I have little interest in working in the government - I don't care for the politics, I don't care for the inability to effect change in agencies (unlike private sector, it's not easy to make the necessary changes in policies, procedures, or personnel), and I don't care for the public scrutiny that invariably comes with the position. That being said, as I visit with people in my network in the DC area, I am almost universally told about what a mess DHS and its divisions are, the lack of management skills or common sense, and the difficulty they have hiring people that understand both sides of the equation. In other words, we have an agency tasked with national security that is a "mess" (my friends' words) but can't find people who will step up. I won't go into a situation where I can't achieve change and be a success - and I don't know any other motivated private sector person that will.
(As a side note, I heard the story of one DHS employee that ended up interviewing with the executive director. When asked how he had spent the last 9 months out of work, he said "I took training classes". The director looked at him and said "I don't know what position you're interviewing for, but whatever it is, you're hired".)
I really don't want to get into a political discussion, but until the stature of high-level government employees changes, and until the institutional issues with the government changes, and until the media changes (none of which I see happening anytime soon), the "system" will continue to have a lack of leadership.
Most of us here know, and I surmise from your postings that you know, the impact of ill-informed management decisions in this area. But until there are major changes in DC, starting from the top, this will continue to be a festering issue.
My point is: I agree, and a lot of people agree that agency leadership is lacking. And there are 'employment opportunities' within that leadership. But a lot of otherwise qualified people won't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
Anyway, thanks for being willing to jump into the lion's den here.