Understand your frustration, AngryDan, (father is a RET CW4 and LEO) but when you throw out "who here has served"? line, you are just going to get both sides digging in deeper, and you aren't likely to win many new signups either. And really, when getting screened, I care about as much about your combat experience as you do about the Ivy Schools I've attended. Yet both of us care about fulfilling our missions and getting the operation done efficiently and above all, correctly. I think law dawg said it earlier, that respect works both ways, and I really think in this day and age that common courtesy is appallingly rare, and creates a lot of unncessary friction in all our daily lives. In general I agree that a little bit of respect towards TSO's would go a long way towards making things easier for everyone. And what an amazing world it would be if TSO's had an impeccable reputation for courtesy and respectful behavior, and the world's top civilian organizations came to you to learn how to deal an increasibgly diverse and complex public.

I have had only one bad TSA experience, and that was way back in the day when everyone was just trying to figure out what to do, at a short-staffed podunk airport with apparently little accountability. OTOH I have had lots of TSO's send out a good vibe, and I have been keen to respond in kind. In the end, I think TSO's and FF'ers have a lot in common -- we both want safe aviation; we both want to go home at the end of the day instead of having out axxes blown into vapor; we want to be treated respectfully; and we want the TSA/DHS brass to be less brassy and conduct continuous improvement using data from those of us who are right there on the front line.