Tomorrow my girl, my kids and I will board a plane for SC. I have no fear of anything save being the ‘random bag check’ or being fondled by some guard. I wear my military jacket because it’s the only jacket I own. It seems to make everyone around me feel better, like I’ll turn into Wesley Snipes if some freak does something stupid.

FYI: military anti terrorism training tells us specifically to avoid letting anyone know that we’re military. We’re supposed to hide our ID cards and travel like normal citizens. As a soldier, I don’t have any authority to arrest or detain anyone. I’m also not trained for it. If you need someone to flashbang and clear a building, I can do that. You need a firewall installed or your Cron jobs scheduled, I got you. If you need someone to make a snap judgment and save the airplane – I’m not better at it then your average joe… save that I’m probably more like to use deadly force if I think my kids are in danger. I enjoy all the free drinks I get on the flight. I like that people congratulate me for being in the army. other than that, you better hope there’s a US Marshall on the plane.

What if I did jump on someone? What if I guessed, incorrectly, that Ahmed was carrying an applejuice or breastmilk bomb? I’m going to jail. I have no authority to act or detain. There are no rules of engagement to protect me because I’m only supposed to engage under lawful orders. I’ve been trained on what I can do in the event of a terrorist episode… NOTHING. Asking a US soldier to detect a terrorist plot and save your plane is like asking a Chiropractor to perform open heart surgery. I’m not even staying at a Holiday Inn Express, so everyone is screwed.

Though if, as I mentioned earlier, I KNOW that John-Doe is about to do something, I’ll definitely jump on him. Of course, then Airport Security will prolly Rodney King my black ass.

More information for those that give a damn:
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab got through the second best airport security in the world. What makes a person think he could not have gotten past the best? Why is it Obama’s fault? it wasn’t even our friggin air port.

In case you didn’t know: at Schiphol, for flights leaving the EU, there’s a separate screening setup — X-ray machine and metal detector — at *each gate*. The “security zone” is a glass-walled room from which you board your flight directly — and no other flight. So the security at your airport of origin _could_ be piss-poor, but you’ll still be screened to Dutch standards before you’re allowed to board an onward connection. (And the Dutch, when they do security, seem to have a chip on their shoulder about being insufficiently German.)

Here’s the real problem: Abdulmutallab managed to smuggle his IED through the most secure airport in Europe — far tighter than anything you get in the USA, probably second only to Tel Aviv.

Don’t blame Obama while the honorable senator from SC is blocking our President’s TSA nominee. DeMint equates unions with Satan. As long as he’s beefing with Obama over unions, we’ll be less safe. Don’t blame the security personnel that they didn’t grab this guy’s nuttz. I’m sure anyone who reads this could combine Google with their local Lowes and construct an IED that’d make it thru air port security. I made it thru with a lighter, 2 dollars in change and a diaper bag… Jee-zus, I could’ve burned someone and pelted the pilots with nickels.