svpii: I may be making way too many assumptions, but in my opinion, if the "FAA representative" is not tasked with the responsibility of identifying the sky marshals (since they are both employed by the FAA), then something is seriously screwed up within the FAA.

The FAA rep. did not need to challenge the rent-a-cops at the checkpoint, they need to help verify the identity of a FELLOW FAA EMPLOYEE. If they are not allowed to do this, then changes need to be made to the system.

Bureaucrats obsessed with "following the chain of command" are not what we need. Such behavior will overtax my patriotic patience in a real hurry.