Something to consider is that it's possible your items were stolen prior to arriving in CONUS. You didn't describe your departure. It is possible that you were "screened" by a foreign security company which is probably why your property was re-screened by TSA once you arrived in CONUS. The reason that makes sense to me is because it's apparent to me that you were targeted; that tells me that the people who stole your items knew exactly what to look for. Out of the four possible places you point out (departure point and three transfer points), it makes sense that these items were possibly stolen at your departure point because the people there KNOW what's in a GI's duffel bag coming out of country.

I never liked flying out on civilian airliners whenever I redeployed because I had to check in my military-issued weapons. On charters and MAC flights, we always carried them.

Sorry about your experience; and thank you for your service.

RANGERS LEAD THE WAY! HOOAH!

I have been following the posts to this thread and have some observations from personal experience that may be help.

1) What do they do with the stuff? - As I have mentioned on other threads I was able to buy a lighter from a TSA agent outside the terminal at a very good price and a Zippo at that. Perhaps there is a market for your possessions? Who knows?

2) Last week I flew to Texas and found that my checked bag had a TSA inspection card inserted, along with the contents totally mixed up and possessions missing.

I called the number on the card and tried to explain the gravity of the situation. "If someone can take something out they can just as easily put something in!" The two people I spoke with didn't feel this represented any sort of breach in security, as it is quite often that an item is not returned to the baggage, because the agent forgot or whatever. In my opinoin, this doesn't speak well of the TSA agent's skills. They further advised that in this scenariio the item usually ends up at the lost and found. When asked how does one find out if the item is at the lost and found, they came up empty but did imply that a visit would be useful. I felt that returning to the departure city placed unusual demands on both my time and financial well being.

There was no way I could impress upon them to take any other action and would only provide me with information on securing a form to reclaim the value of my property, provided I met all the conditions. They had no knowledge of what happens to the forms once they are submitted.

On the other hand, there has been a lot of discussion of late concerning screening all individuals that work at the airports and this might ameliorate some of my concerns about added items to checked baggage.

3) Filing a claim - I tried this about two years ago, and was advised that unless I had documentation on the value of the loss it would be denied. In this case it was work product with no inherent value, but it was obtained at a cost of about $3000, including the trans-continental air fare. I suspect in this scenario, as the item had no value to someone else, it was just totally mishandled. When asking about a video tape to help identify what happended to the papers, I was advised by TSA at the airport that there is no video tape.

So, thank you for your service, but while you were astensibly fighting for the freedom of the Iraqis, your freedom as an American citizen was being erroded. Perhaps this is a corollary to a law of physics; "Freedom can neither be created nor destroyed" - just reallocated.

Good luck with your claim; don't be critical of your immediate superior officers or the Commander in Chief, nor harshly speak of Homeland Security or the TSA as a consequence of your experiences. You might very well be added to a no fly list which could encumber your ablility to return to Iraq for another tour of duty.

WHY are there not DOZENS of cameras surveilling and recording from every angle the "baggage inspectors" AND baggage handlers?

It seems to ME to be an INTENTIONAL weak link in the security, because THEY ABSOLUTELY COULD BRING THE THEFTS TO A SCREECHING HALT IF THEY REALLY WANTED TO DO SO. And, it would NOT be prohibitively expensive or difficult to do so either.

Get rid of Pockets on the uniforms of inspectors, put them in jumpsuits without pockets. SEARCH employees leaving the airport and or baggage handling and inspection/screening areas,(seal those baggage areas and remove garbage cans from that area). Crack down and get rid of the "garbage" collection used as mules to ferry out stolen property for airport thieves to later recover method of operation. Have employees sign a condition to employment permission to spot search personal lockers. Prohibit employees bringing in their "private property" not required for their job so they can't claim "that is MY ipod or laptop or etc.,I brought to work" when they are found with it as they leave the airport. There are LOTS of things that could be done to virtually eliminate theft of passenger property, but they just don't seem to give a damn.

Well, there probably are. As I recall from my Googling of all things TSA, there was a case in Miami(?) where they had the screener on camera stealing CDs and such, but it couldn't be used for fear of compromising security.

I'm just tired of the whole thing. I'm sure I've been flagged for complaining at all. I never argued or got uppity with any of the TSA folk. As I said in a previous post, I was alarmed by their "hey, we got an MP!" statement. I wonder if they also alert each other to FBI agents travelling (note to flamers: no, I'm not equating being a Military Policeman for the National Guard to being a Federal Agent). I have no rational basis for it, but it reminds me of Super Troopers when the fast food clerk tells his buddies "it's for a cop!".

The other argument they used was, "well, your bags were unlocked so it could have been one of the airline baggage-handlers that took your stuff." Granted, but the only reason my bag was unlocked was because the TSA says they CAN'T be locked (remember when you could lock your checked bag?). If only there was a way you could stand there over the screener's shoulder while they checked, then have them re-lock the bag with some sort of document to indicate it had passed and was inviolate. I've seen posts about checking starter pistols and such, but that seems needlessly ridiculous. Maybe you could have pre-packed bags that you could have checked and sealed ahead of your actual travel date. "Travel Naked" seems less and less far-fetched.

You can always buy TSA locks. The theory goes that they have a master key so if they need to get in, they can. They generally work, but I've had some cut as well. :td: