All,

Yet again, I've had another attempt on trying to figure out what might cause one to be SSSS'd again. Here's my experience:

I'm a Premier Exec on United and a General Member on American. On quite a few flights on both carriers, I have been SSSS'd. It happened randomly, but usually when trips were made just before flying...even in Full-Y. This all stopped last fall, even when trips were booked the day before or even the day OF flying. I might not think much about it, and purely think of the randomness of it all...but I've since noticed these oddities.

* A coworker traveling with me had the exact same itinerary, booked the exact same date (day before travel on a paid F ticket). She got SSSS'd and I got nothing. This has happened more than once. Both of us have no status (on AA).
* I have taken several one-way trips on US (I'm only status because of *A) booked the day before, without a single one being SSSS.

After thinking about it all, I realized that I haven't been SSSS'd at all since I received my full TS (Top Secret) Clearance. Is this somehow tied into the government's processing of SSSS'ers? It would make complete sense, but I couldn't find anything about it at all in the forums.

I'm sure that other FTers have clearances (especially here in WAS); How many of you all have been SSSS'd if holding a clearance...if so - how high was the clearance and what was your itinerary?

I'm just curious

-jeremy

I can tell you one thing, harassment doesn't stop because you have a TS clearance, and it isn't just applied to TSA.

I worked with a guy at a previous job that had a higher level clearance than that (mainly due to compartments, etc), and he got hassled every time he tried to re-enter the country. He's of Indian descent, but a natural born US citizen. At any rate, he got hassled twice when coming back into the country from overseas. At first, he thought it was just the airport, but then he got it at HNL when he re-entered the country while on official business. Didn't matter that he was traveling on an official red passport and had travel orders. He still got the works by immigration. I think a few calls to agency security stopped that.

If anything's saved you, it's probably elite status. Airlines can deselect SSSS pax if they have status on an airline, have been a member for more than 6 months, or flown a certain amount of miles to establish a pattern.

Do you get your FF# into the reservation prior to ticketing and pay with a credit card that has the same name and billing address as your FF information?

I'm with Superguy here too. Too many people who have or have had high level security clearances have been selected for rather routine haraSSSSment that it's not a guaranteed way to minimize haraSSSSment selection.

The travel-related public-private collaborations -- collaborations that I consider to be, in parts, unAmerican in both process and result -- produce the scarlet letter-equivalents mostly without consideration of security clearance. Aspects of DHS related to customs and immigration are another matter, but even there security clearance is no guarantee of being given a "get out of here easy" pass.

I very seriously doubt that TSA even knows when a passenger has a high-level security clearance. Where would they get that information? It's not part of your PNR.

Bruce

Your security clearance is not visible to the airlines. We're not that intertwined yet, thank God.

I realize that the topic is about SSSS and security clearances. I am going to digress by sharing what I experience at the checkpoint from military and civilian members who possess security clearance. It seems that they are offended at the very notion of having to undergo any type of security screening. First of all, as stated previously, we have no way of verifying security clearances, and government hasn't found a way for the various different departments (e.g. Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security) to exchange security clearances in a consistent, smooth and efficient manner. It's all essentially done on a case-by-case basis involving a basic methodology of communicating clearances. This is different than someone from TSA, for example, tapping into a database and verifying someone's security clearance in advance before they process through the checkpoint (and I do NOT advocate such a move...I'm just illustrating how complicated this issue is).

I've had people with prohibited items (scissors---when they were prohibited---knives, tools, etc) argue that they had a secret security clearance or even top secret clearance and that they shouldn't even have to undergo screening. I understand the logic of what they're saying but not the practicality of what they're saying. They are, of course, only looking at it from a purely selfish perspective of being inconvenienced without looking at the big picture of how TSA can safely by-pass screening for some people and not for others.

Here is my "problem" for those who have security clearances and think they are above the law: as a counterintelligence special agent, my caseload was devoted exclusively to those with security clearances who were suspected of a wide variety of crimes ranging from security violations to conducting espionage against the United States. Never had a dry spell. Someone with a security clearance is ALWAYS doing something to draw scrutiny to his or her eligibity for continued trust and access to classified information. Not saying that everyone who has a security clearance shouldn't be trusted. Just saying that having a security clearance is not an automatic guarantee of trust.

It is why those of us who had clearances had to undergo periodic reinvestigations and, for a few of us, periodic polygraph examinations.

Me? I had a top secret clearance based on a special background investigation with access to multiple levels of sensistive compartmented information, special access programs and a variety of other compartmented programs.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Those of you with super-duper secret security clearances need to get off your high horses and not take it so personally when we need to take a look inside your carry-on.

Frankly, I wouldn't sweat the occasional SSSS. In fact, if the queue is long to get through TSA I rather welcome it. If it appears on my boarding pass, the pass-checker waives me over for "special treatment" and I get to jump the queue! Just a couple of minutes getting wanded and my carry-on searched trumps standing in line for up to 30 minutes for the usual drill. I go right past the hoi polloi and off to my gate or to my lounge. To me it's a winning proposition.

You're missing the point. What if the TSA offered to let you bypass the line in exchange for a rectal exam? Would you accept that deal, too? That would make more sense, actually, because a rectal exam would be more likely to find "something" than the silly, useless SSSS drill -- which never finds any terrorists, by the way, and hardly ever anything even slightly dangerous.

Bruce

Well said.

While I don't think having a clearance should exempt one from screening on the grounds you say, you see why it makes us laugh when SSI is thrown in our face and we're told that we have no clue about security. I still maintain that SSI is nothing more than glorified FOUO and below confidential.

Just curious, what's the procedure for inspecting bags containing classified information? I know they're not allowed to go thru the x-ray, and the courier sure as hell isn't going to give you the keys to the bag. And considering that it's never supposed to leave the person's hand, I'm curious as to how this works.

I've never had to do a courier mission, but who knows what might come up at work if some things go my way.

Super

OT - What really went on in Roswell?

TSA doesn't conduct rectal exams, doesn't conduct breast exams nor any other examination that requires the removal of clothing or exposure of genetalia, breasts, buttocks or anything else along those lines.

The premise of your argument, sir, is lacking.

And as you know from my previous posts, given the type of information I've had access to, SSI makes me giggle. But, as an employee, I play the game.

There is a method that exempts packages containing classified information from x-ray inspection AND allows the courier to maintain control of the item at all times. I can't go into the details online; however, it's a rather simple procedure that, believe it or not, makes good common sense and satisfies the concerns of every courier we've ever had to process.

But here's the irony: x-raying a bag that contains classified information doesn't compromise the information at all. Whether that classified information is on software, hardware, paper or any other medium, we cannot read the contents of that information. All we "see" is the medium itself. In other words, we will see a series of orange rectangles that shape a document, for example, but won't be able to read the contents. In fact, the only items we can read are metallic letters or highly contrasted items such as military uniform name plates...and that's if the item happens to be at a flat angle.

I don't attempt to explain this anymore. There is a procedure that allows classified couriers to exempt only the classified item and its container (e.g. envelope, hard drive case, etc.) but not the bag unless it's something like a locked briefcase handcuffed to the courier (don't know if we do that anymore...thought that went out with the end of the Cold War, but it's been a few years since I was in the Army). Couriers insist that their items not be x-ray inspected and we comply even though it's a silly fear.

The only items along these lines I see that shouldn't be x-rayed are those that can be damaged by x-ray radiation. And this applies to technologies sensitive to light, medical or scientific specimens, homophobic medication...er, I mean, homeopathic medicine etc. And we have procedures that allow us to accomodate these concerns.

I was exploring a hypothetical situation, not trying to describe current practices.

Bruce

Answered above by Bart with regards to the couriers.

If you are traveling with documentation that is not lock and key documentaiton, then the process is fairly simple, you have all of the documents in a sealed envelope along with a cover sheet that verifies that the envelope cannot be opened. TSA simply bends the envelope, without opening it, to determine if any prohibitted items are in it. Of course this only occurs if the bag receives a secondary. The other thing is that you must verify that the bag enters the X-ray prior to walking through the WTMD and that it is not rerun. Our policy is that when placing the bag on the belt that we inform the TSO's that the bag cannot be rerun and should be hand searched if necessary in a private room.