TSA strikes again

[Gun Geezer]

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A friend of mine sent me this about his TSA experience. He, unlike most of us, was coming back into the country from Afghanistan on a military charter.

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As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed the following:

When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.

Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the Indiana National Guard. That’s where the stupid started.

First, everyone was forced to get off the plane–even though the plane wasn’t refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a male/female latrine.

It’s probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine guns. Of course, the weapons weren’t loaded. And we had been cleared of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN at customs.

The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it reinspected. Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding area, the TSA decided not to reinspect our Cargo–just to inspect us again: Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, reinspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever. So we lined up to go through security AGAIN.

This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.

So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they’re going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:

TSA Guy: You can’t take those on the plane.

Soldier: What? I’ve had them since we left country.

TSA Guy: You’re not suppose to have them.

Soldier: Why?

TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I’m allowed to take it on.

TSA Guy: Yeah but you can’t use it to take over the plane. You don’t have bullets.

Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?

TSA Guy: [awkward silence]

Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f**k out of here. I’ll buy you a new set.

Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]

This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns–but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.

[308 at my gate]

Just nothing short of being rediculous. Wow.

[jack404]

but if a muslim sheila in a Burqa attends they have to follow her demand they only pat around the head ??

now just a thought maybe its different there , on my web gear i had a K Bar knife on my belt buckle i had a push dagger ( it was the buckle) and on my belt hanging i had a bayonet and in my pocket i had a credit card survival tool with a good blade on that too

on my pack i have a 22" machette from fighting irons and a entrenching tool thats rather sharp


i suppose your folks are kitted out similarly or dont they trust your troops with bayonets now ??

[Gun Geezer]

I say enough of this BS. It's time to start profiling. Anyone who has a name that takes 2 mouthfuls of phlem to pronounce, wears a Burqa or a towel, is dark skinned with a full beard or is wearing 4 layers of clothing in 90deg. weather should get the full treatment. Not 95 year old grannies carrying a shopping bag with a salami sticking out.

[308 at my gate]

Does anybody know if the full body scanner is done with x-rays? If so what about all that exposure to ionizing radiation. That in itself is not good. I would refuse to be exposed to that much x-ray for health reasons.

[Jeff Midguard]

Originally Posted by 308 at my gate

Does anybody know if the full body scanner is done with x-rays? If so what about all that exposure to ionizing radiation. That in itself is not good. I would refuse to be exposed to that much x-ray for health reasons.

That is exactly the issue .308, People who aren't comfortable with the
idea of a dose of radiation get felt up by TSA instead.

[Insulation Tim]

All the more reason that I no longer fly. I take an extra day or two and drive and see the country.

[dons2346]

Originally Posted by Gun Geezer

I say enough of this BS. It's time to start profiling. Anyone who has a name that takes 2 mouthfuls of phlem to pronounce, wears a Burqa or a towel, is dark skinned with a full beard or is wearing 4 layers of clothing in 90deg. weather should get the full treatment. Not 95 year old grannies carrying a shopping bag with a salami sticking out.

I'm with you Geezer

[308 at my gate]

Originally Posted by Jeff Midguard

That is exactly the issue .308, People who aren't comfortable with the
idea of a dose of radiation get felt up by TSA instead.

So if a person is making multiple trips in one year at what point do they say that you have had to much radiation or who is monitoring how much dose you have recieved because of multiple body scans. Sounds like a law suit in the making. X-rays can cause cancer. That is a known fact.

[jack404]

308 , your not allowed to know , the International travel union ( a org that does safety checks for travelers ) aint allowed to know what the gadgets put out , nice eh ...

[Marlin T]

[308 at my gate]

Originally Posted by jack404

308 , your not allowed to know , the International travel union ( a org that does safety checks for travelers ) aint allowed to know what the gadgets put out , nice eh ...

These people who make these rules are nuts. You cannot smoke on a plane because that might cause cancer but you can get your privates radiated which is known to cause cancer but that is ok. It is only a matter of time before someone in the know raises the red flag on these morons.

[199er]

A classic example of high level Bureaucrats in action..........implementing policies piecemeal without adequately training it's personnel and frontline supervisors to uniformly enforce the policy.