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National Guard Ending Airport Security Mission
Monday, May 20, 2002
By MSG Bob Haskell
U.S. National Guard
Army News Service

Master Sergeant Bob Haskell is a member of the National Guard Bureau public affairs team



"The Transportation Security Administration, being committed to creating a workforce that commands the respect of the traveling public, is in the process of hiring security screeners and supervisors at over 400 airports who are taking and will take the place of our Guard members," stated the National Guard Bureau.

WASHINGTON -- USAPA
Many Army National Guard troops are returning to life as they knew it before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks now that they are no longer helping to safeguard the nation's airports.

This month Guard troops are leaving more than 400 airports where they have steadfastly stood watch in their camouflage uniforms at security checkpoints since President George Bush asked the governors for the Guard's help late last September.

The mission for all Guard troops who have become familiar figures to millions of airline passengers from coast to coast will end May 31.

Virginia Army Guard Sgt. Ishma Hodges gained a new respect for the civilian security screeners, and Spc. Derrick Kysar discovered that boring could be beautiful during the seven months they served at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.

Both are traditional, or part-time, soldiers in the 29th Infantry Division that ended its mission at Reagan on May's second Sunday, Mother's Day.

"I gained a lot of respect for what the civilian screeners do," said Hodges, who took military leave from his civilian job as a land acquisition negotiator for the Virginia Department of Transportation to do his bit for the war against terrorism.
(More: Army LINK News Source)
2002 © Army News Service.

Dan