All bayonets were in our checked duffels. No one had so much as a pocket knife on them. Quite a few Leathermen/Gerbers went missing too. What happens to all this stuff? Do they melt the Bic lighters and toenail clippers into slag? Accuse me of being a "troll", but I imagine a lot of it goes home with the screeners.

OK then,

It appears you have a valid case and you should seek out compensation from TSA for your missing articles.

Not all TSA employees are honest.

I'd do what rebadc suggests ... file a claim and see what happens.

I already tried. An e-mail to the TSA resulted in a link to the complaint form I already filled out. I have resigned myself to the fact that my stuff is gone. The original point of this thread was to see if any other soldiers were singled out while traveling.

Actually, there's an actual claim form you can use. I may have it at home. The complaint form won't do jack for getting your stuff back.

At this point I imagine nothing will get my stuff back. I still have a few bayonets that I mailed home from Iraq, and I can replace the HP-48.

What horrifies me is the gleeful reaction the TSA had to me being an MP, and the fact that I had to justify having a particular book. I could understand it if the book was "How to bring down an airliner, by Al Kayda", but a physics book? I can't recite the actual conversation for fear of being labeled a "troll" again, but it was clear the TSA goon was not well versed in physics. Thank goodness I wasn't traveling with a copy of Catch-22 or Mein Kampf.

It's just sad that they think they can pick on the military types. Sure, we comply, but it's out of respect and professionalism. I think one of the reasons they pick us is that they're lazy and they know we aren't going to try to sneak anything through.

Yeah, I'm a troll because because I think the screeners are crackheads, but I'm not the one starting threads on how to deceive them and get things by them.

I've carried some awfully sophistimicated calculators thru numerous checkpoints over the past five and a half years, and oddly enough, I've never received any grief from any screener anywhere in the world over them.

If it had been my HP-48, I would have held my ground. Under no interpretation of the US Code or any of the TSA's rules/regulations/security directives could a commercially available pocket calculator be a prohibited item.

The OP was a victim of theft, not security. Period.

Screeners can no more steal your calculator as confiscate your wallet.

Agreed, but when the choice is "you voluntarily surrender it or you don't fly", I had to weigh the the consequences. I've got a civilian job that expects me back, and the prospect of being detained far from home is daunting. Just because a TSA moron can't grasp the RPN, I might be stranded? Welcome to our brave new world.

I remember a few years back, probably around 2003-04, when one unit flew to Afghanistan. They stopped in JFK for some reason, and the Soldiers were allowed to deplane for a while. They were all in uniform, and most of them were wearing Leatherman or Gerber pocket tools on their belts. Some left the secure zone and had to come back through security. Their tools were confiscated when they tried to clear the checkpoints. However, on the aircraft they got off of (and being guarded by a few Soldiers) were all of their weapons, ranging from pistols to rifles to light machine guns.

It is amusing to receive a pre-flight brief that includes 'Stow your rifles in the overhead compartment', but it happens...

Yup. I had my M249. "Is that more than 3 oz. of CLP in the pistol grip? Well, gotta take that." Not really, but it wouldn't surprise me. Yeah, we had machineguns and MK-19 grenade machinguns. Oh no, a rusty Iraqi bayonet in a duffel bag? Confiscate it! I feel so much safer.

I'm guessing that wasn't hand carried on the airplane, at 76 pounds/ea.

Heheh. nope. The point was, we had plenty of access to weapons. So the TSA decides to steal our souvenirs, had we wished to commandeer the flight, we could have 10x over. Oh yeah, we're MPs and we do the right thing. Problem solved.

I still can't fathom the logic of pinching your HP-48...after all, a laptop computer is a fancy calculator too.

And as for the physics textbook, geez, you know the military supports so many efforts of service personnel to improve their knowledge in skills, academic, personal, professional, you name it...I think that is one of the great fringe benefits of military service.

Your whole experience just seems really weird, like several years ago when on national TV that NFL ref messed with Jerome Bettis on the coin toss

Did TSA have surveillance cameras? Ask 'em to retain the tape. But do it fast.

A bit belated, but welcome to FT, MPSAWgunner. No apologies needed for the frustration you expressed in earlier posts; there was nothing inflammatory about them. And you do not, from your first 13 posts, appear to be trolling as far as I can tell.

Please continue posting and, above all, enjoying FT.

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essxjay
TS/S moderator