Can't get a job as an air marshall? Here's the next best thing!
Dec 21, 2001, 10:04 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Valley Springs, Ca USA;Proud Retired AAer SJC Ramp/ AA- 2 MM Platinum;Hilton Diamond
Posts: 851
Can't get a job as an air marshall? Here's the next best thing!
I just listened to this program being promoted on a San Francisco radio station and I haven't noticed it mentioned here yet.
At www.flightwatchol.com you can sign up to be part of a program to help defend a comandeered airliner, working with air marshalls and flight crew. Special training sessions are available.
Such sage advice as "Don't kill the hijackers if you don't have to," is contained on the site, referring to the need to keep them alive for interrogation.
ID cards are issued to members, identifying them as members. The section about these cards states:
"The Flight Watch ID Card is one on the most important elements of the Flight Watch volunteer program. This picture ID Card identifies you as a Flight Watch trained volunteer. It also verifies your specific skills and training. Presenting your card to the Airline Company at check-in allows the flight crew to seat you in a strategic location in order to quickly access people with specific skills in an emergency. You will also be eligible for various upgrades and benefits programs offered by the Airlines. A criminal background check, fingerprints and other biometric identification will be required."
Neither I nor anyone associated with security I asked about this has ever heard of this program. The security personnnel I spoke with at AA indicated a passenger who identified himself as a "specially trained volunteer," complete with an ID card, requesting "special seating" might soon find themselves speaking with the FBI. And how about those upgrades, Frequent Travelers?
Anyway, it is an interesting site to look at.
At www.flightwatchol.com you can sign up to be part of a program to help defend a comandeered airliner, working with air marshalls and flight crew. Special training sessions are available.
Such sage advice as "Don't kill the hijackers if you don't have to," is contained on the site, referring to the need to keep them alive for interrogation.
ID cards are issued to members, identifying them as members. The section about these cards states:
"The Flight Watch ID Card is one on the most important elements of the Flight Watch volunteer program. This picture ID Card identifies you as a Flight Watch trained volunteer. It also verifies your specific skills and training. Presenting your card to the Airline Company at check-in allows the flight crew to seat you in a strategic location in order to quickly access people with specific skills in an emergency. You will also be eligible for various upgrades and benefits programs offered by the Airlines. A criminal background check, fingerprints and other biometric identification will be required."
Neither I nor anyone associated with security I asked about this has ever heard of this program. The security personnnel I spoke with at AA indicated a passenger who identified himself as a "specially trained volunteer," complete with an ID card, requesting "special seating" might soon find themselves speaking with the FBI. And how about those upgrades, Frequent Travelers?
Anyway, it is an interesting site to look at.
Dec 22, 2001, 5:07 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Bryn Mawr PA & Wailea HI
Posts: 15,726
In the unlikely case you are not accepted at this fine academy, you can go to www.BuyNiceBridgesFromMisterNice.com and really get a fine property and a tax-advantaged deal too. We currently have a few smaller bridges starting at nice $350 (and up). Cash only.
Special discounts* available for registered FT members or members of any elite airline or hotel program*. Hurry!
MisterNice
* discounts are NOT combinable
Special discounts* available for registered FT members or members of any elite airline or hotel program*. Hurry!
MisterNice
* discounts are NOT combinable
Dec 22, 2001, 8:45 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Westchester, NY AA P/3MM, DL SM/MM, STW PLT
Posts: 5,490
Actually, this may be the next best thing:
Licensed to Kill: Marine Sniper Waits
For Perfect Moment
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Marine Sgt. Christopher G. Jacox brought a Wisconsin hunting license with him to Afghanistan. And he intends to use it.
Each night, ready for the kind of hunting the Marines trained him to do, he perches atop the remains of the control tower of Kandahar International Airport with a 7.62 mm sniper rifle capable of hitting a man a thousand yards away.
The snipers have one of the most cold-blooded jobs in the military. Pilots bomb without seeing the bombed. Navy crews launch cruise missiles from the far side of the horizon. Combat troops get into firefights where anybody could get hit. But snipers coolly pick out their targets, shoot them from a distance, and, through powerful scopes, see them fall. "I can actually watch the bullet travel through the air and hit a person," says Sgt. Jacox. Catching himself, he adds, "Or, I should say, target."
This is, in the sergeant's words, an "up-close-and-personal" way to kill someone.
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/...9095331080.htm
Licensed to Kill: Marine Sniper Waits
For Perfect Moment
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Marine Sgt. Christopher G. Jacox brought a Wisconsin hunting license with him to Afghanistan. And he intends to use it.
Each night, ready for the kind of hunting the Marines trained him to do, he perches atop the remains of the control tower of Kandahar International Airport with a 7.62 mm sniper rifle capable of hitting a man a thousand yards away.
The snipers have one of the most cold-blooded jobs in the military. Pilots bomb without seeing the bombed. Navy crews launch cruise missiles from the far side of the horizon. Combat troops get into firefights where anybody could get hit. But snipers coolly pick out their targets, shoot them from a distance, and, through powerful scopes, see them fall. "I can actually watch the bullet travel through the air and hit a person," says Sgt. Jacox. Catching himself, he adds, "Or, I should say, target."
This is, in the sergeant's words, an "up-close-and-personal" way to kill someone.
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/...9095331080.htm
Dec 22, 2001, 12:01 pm
#7
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Programs: UA Plat-2MM, Marriott Life Titanium, Hyatt something
Posts: 1,888
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MisterNice:
* discounts are NOT combinable</font>
* discounts are NOT combinable</font>
OIf course not. If you said discounts were combinable, we'd know it was too good to be true!
Charles
Dec 22, 2001, 12:41 pm
#8
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Denver, CO USA UA_Premier Exec, Hilton Gold,Marriott Gold, Starwood Gold
Posts: 522
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by FoothillFlyer:
...At www.flightwatchol.com you can sign up to be part of a program to help defend a comandeered airliner, working with air marshalls and flight crew. Special training sessions are available.</font>
...At www.flightwatchol.com you can sign up to be part of a program to help defend a comandeered airliner, working with air marshalls and flight crew. Special training sessions are available.</font>
"A fool and his money..."
RAD
Dec 23, 2001, 6:11 am
#9
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: 6E Westbound, 4E Eastbound
Programs: AA EXP & 3MM, Priority Club Plat since 1984
Posts: 6,293
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MisterNice:
In the unlikely case you are not accepted at this fine academy, you can go to www.BuyNiceBridgesFromMisterNice.com and really get a fine property and a tax-advantaged deal too. We currently have a few smaller bridges starting at nice $350 (and up). Cash only.
Special discounts* available for registered FT members or members of any elite airline or hotel program*. Hurry!
MisterNice
* discounts are NOT combinable</font>
In the unlikely case you are not accepted at this fine academy, you can go to www.BuyNiceBridgesFromMisterNice.com and really get a fine property and a tax-advantaged deal too. We currently have a few smaller bridges starting at nice $350 (and up). Cash only.
Special discounts* available for registered FT members or members of any elite airline or hotel program*. Hurry!
MisterNice
* discounts are NOT combinable</font>
What a great post! You made my morning. I'm flying this morning with my wife and three children to LAS . We're discussing now flying naked, but some National Guardsman will undoubtedly pull us from the line for taunting.....