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Soldiers deserve TSA's respect in screenings at airports
Orlando Sentinel ^ | August 15, 2006 | Steven Alvarez

Posted on 08/16/2006 12:15:31 PM PDT by rightalien

A little-known fact about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that the U.S. military requires soldiers to travel in uniform from theater. An even lesser known fact is that the Transportation Security Administration aggressively targets war veterans as they travel home to their loved ones.

At Baltimore's airport on my way back to Orlando from Iraq, there were about 50 soldiers in line, waiting to be cleared by TSA. I noticed soldiers taking off clothing, and then they assumed the position so commonly seen in police-chase videos, arms and legs spread wide as a screener passed a wand close to their bodies. Soldiers were asked to remove belts, boots and shirts, and their carry-on bags were ransacked.

(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: antimilitary; donutwatch; military; nationalsecurity; profiling; soldiers; tsa; veterans
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To: Brooklyn Kid
Is there a fail-safe method to ID men & women in uniform?

It's called a military ID card.

21 posted on 08/16/2006 12:31:52 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (Islam is a subsingularity memetic perversion : (http://www.orionsarm.com/topics/perversities.html))
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To: xcamel
This is beyond disgusting behavior. The jerks who are doing this are union members of the TSA.

They should be fired and the creep who thought up this policy should too! I'm writing to my representatives.
22 posted on 08/16/2006 12:32:01 PM PDT by eleni121 (General Draza Mihailovich: We will never forget you - the hero of World War Two)
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To: weegee
Yeah, that's him, Sgt Akbar.

Another Muslim convert who "mysteriously" becomes violent towards mankind.

23 posted on 08/16/2006 12:32:08 PM PDT by lormand (Nuke the Islamic States, or kiss your @55 goodbye)
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To: Centurion2000

By no means the most secure form of ID.
Even the new cards aren't that foolproof.


24 posted on 08/16/2006 12:33:01 PM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: rightalien
I have seen young men wearing sand or green camoflage with the right haircut..........not in the military at all.

Are we going to be safe or sorry.

25 posted on 08/16/2006 12:33:05 PM PDT by OldFriend (I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag.....and My Heart to the Soldier Who Protects It.)
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To: rightalien

"A little-known fact about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that the U.S. military requires soldiers to travel in uniform from theater."


hmmm...VERY "little-known"....


26 posted on 08/16/2006 12:33:13 PM PDT by dakine
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To: SJSAMPLE
Back in 1991, A LOT of soldiers were caught with contraband, including unexploded cluster munitions and other weapons.

Yep ... I even carried contraband home inadvertently .... 14.5 mm machine gun rounds

27 posted on 08/16/2006 12:33:59 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (Islam is a subsingularity memetic perversion : (http://www.orionsarm.com/topics/perversities.html))
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To: Centurion2000

"It's called a military ID card."

Can they be duplicated?


28 posted on 08/16/2006 12:35:28 PM PDT by Brooklyn Kid (What's it to ya? ) ((....west of the Jordan, east of the Rock of Gibraltar.................))
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To: rightalien

I should think a soldier woud be the first one to approve of safety measures to protect our country, since each one of them is risking their lives to do the same thing.


29 posted on 08/16/2006 12:35:41 PM PDT by kitkat (The first step down to hell is to deny the existence of evil.)
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To: Brooklyn Kid

Yes, there is. Does the solder have a vaild military ID? Or vailid orders?


30 posted on 08/16/2006 12:35:56 PM PDT by quikdrw (Life is tough....it's even tougher if you are stupid.)
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To: Brooklyn Kid
How does the screener know whether the soldier is a real soldier?

The screeners first clue should of been the fact that 50 were traveling together. They all carry Military ID's and leave papers. Both of my sons attracted the attention of some TSA screeners and were pulled aside, nice guys that they were broke wind when bending down to unlace their boots :)
31 posted on 08/16/2006 12:36:55 PM PDT by boxerblues
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To: rightalien

TSA is completely corrupt and incompetent.


32 posted on 08/16/2006 12:37:48 PM PDT by stinkerpot65
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To: GreyFriar

Thanks for the ping. Every soldier has endured worse indignities than a TSA screening -- and it reduces the possibility that terrorists can get through by wearing U.S. military uniforms.


33 posted on 08/16/2006 12:38:31 PM PDT by zot (GWB -- the most slandered man of this decade)
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To: rightalien
Then people like me with US government security clearances will want a pass.

Besides, it wouldn't be politically correct. What are you thinking?
34 posted on 08/16/2006 12:39:47 PM PDT by Rockitz (This isn't rocket science- Follow the money and you'll find the truth.)
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To: OldFriend

The point is, why not treat soldiers as normal passengers? It appears, from the article, that the soldiers are being "racial stereotyped" so to speak.


35 posted on 08/16/2006 12:41:21 PM PDT by Frumious Bandersnatch
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To: boxerblues

"The screeners first clue should of been the fact that 50 were traveling together"

In that case yes. But what about travelling alone or with one or two buddies?


36 posted on 08/16/2006 12:41:21 PM PDT by Brooklyn Kid (What's it to ya? ) ((....west of the Jordan, east of the Rock of Gibraltar.................))
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To: Centurion2000

I hate having ammunition that I don't own the weapon for.

It's an itch that just can't be scratched.


37 posted on 08/16/2006 12:41:42 PM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: rightalien

That's disgusting.

Last summer coming back from Iraq I was in the Charles De Gaulle *transit* area to New York (had already been search and sniffed), and some TSA weenie started giving me the third degree, which got even worse when I said I was coming from Iraq.

Finally pulled out my Pentagon ID and official Iraq clearance ID, and said "I work for the Pentagon, and I'm returning from a classified assignment" (which technically I wasn't, but it sounded good). "What else do you need to know?" Loudly, in front of the assembling crowd of other passengers, and in the tone you might use with a grocery bagger.

That was the end of the "interview".

I think the soldiers need to be a little more assertive with TSA personnel. They seem to have little common sense or willingness to think.


38 posted on 08/16/2006 12:41:56 PM PDT by angkor
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To: rightalien

It happened to me on my way home from the sandbox. I think it was also due to the fact that I had a one-way ticket. It kinda feels like a slap in the face.... As far as contraband, they were pretty darn thorough in Kuwait before we left.


39 posted on 08/16/2006 12:42:07 PM PDT by CheneyChick
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To: SJSAMPLE

"Back in 1991, A LOT of soldiers were caught with contraband, including unexploded cluster munitions and other weapons."

That screening is done WWAAAYYY up front, in Iraq, by enlisted customs personnel who are much toughter than any TSA weener would ever think of being.


40 posted on 08/16/2006 12:44:17 PM PDT by angkor
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