ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Air Marshals, United StatesA federal air marshal trainee shoots live rounds during a training session in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. Thousands of armed, undercover air marshalshave joined the service since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and are flying carefully chosen missions, sometimes on an hour’s notice because of newterrorist threats. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.check, because he is armed. Once aboard the plane, thecrew has knowledge that a marshal is on board, andtherefore, he is permitted access to discreetly check allareas of the plane. Federal air marshals are trained to havea variety of ordinary cover stories available to discouragesuspicion about repeated movements in different areas ofthe aircraft, should they become necessary. The Federalair marshal program motto is Invisus, Inauditus,Impavidus—unseen, unheard, unafraid.Hazards of the job. In the first year after September 2001,FAMs made a dozen arrests, none of them related toterrorism. They filed about a thousand reports of suspiciousactivities on planes, but these numbers have shownsigns of decreasing as time as passed. Apparently, in theearly months, FAMs tended to be overly cautious or overlyreactive to potentially dangerous situations, but experiencehas made them more judicious.Early assessments of the FAM program suggest thatperhaps the greatest routine occupational hazard is adecrease in concentration due to the monotony of being arepeated airline passenger. Flying tends to be taxingenough for civilians who do it regularly, but the FAM doesnot have the option of going to sleep. Nor is he free to loseEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Securityhimself completely in a book or magazine article, or an inflightmovie, though he may take part in such activities as ameans of blending in. On the one hand, the FAM must tryto appear completely ordinary, and on the other, he mustbe on the alert at all times. Concerned about the effects offlight fatigue on air marshals, the TSA in January, 2003,announced plans to temporarily reassign some FAMs. Inorder to gain some relief from the boredom and exhaustionof flight, some of these agents would serve in airportterminals, providing surveillance. This announcement elicitedconsiderable criticism, particularly from airport securityofficials, who complained that the FAMs were mostneeded in the skies, and that airports were alreadyoverstaffed with security personnel.Issues of training and expertise have also raised concernsabout the FAM program. Prior to September 2001,FAMs received 12 weeks’ worth of training, but afterward,officials of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) andlater TSA found themselves faced with a demand to hireand train some 800 FAMs a month. As a result, newrecruits found themselves on the job with less than sevenweeks’ training. Those with previous federal law-enforcementexperience might be deployed after as little as asingle week of compacted instruction.15