TSA Weekly, June 1 - 5, 2009

A Message from Gale:

'Hurricane Season 2009 – Your Safety is Our Priority'

TSOs aid with Hurricane Ike recovery effort in 2008. Photo by Jeremy Trujillo

June 1st marked the official beginning of the hurricane season. While TSA’s main mission is to keep transportation modes safe, when natural disasters like hurricanes occur we are also called upon to assist DHS and other Federal and state agencies with disaster assistance and security support. It’s a testament to the dedication and selflessness of our workforce that our frontline answers the call every time. For that, I am both grateful and extremely proud.

Preparedness also means that TSA is ready to assist you before, during and after a hurricane or other emergency event. Being a frontline agency, we are committed to ensuring the safety of everyone, including our workforce, your families, colleagues and passengers. Therefore, we have mobilized a significant agency-wide effort to keep you safe so that you can keep others safe.

Our emergency preparedness effort involves all TSA offices. A Critical Incident Management Group (CIMG) made up of trained agency-wide representatives and incident managers has already conducted a hurricane exercise and stands ready to take action if the need arises. To optimize our readiness, the CIMG's job includes incorporating all the lessons learned from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike last year, as well as from previous hurricanes and emergency situations.

One area of crucial importance in our emergency preparedness is communication. Long before an official hurricane warning, we will keep you abreast of any developing situations so that you can make plans to keep your family safe – before you are in the stress and urgency of an event.

We have established multiple channels for two-way communication, including DHS messages coordinated with interagency teams and a dedicated TSA iShare Hurricane landing page, to share information and emerging needs as situations unfold. Employees at all levels will also receive information through shift briefs and established field networks including LINC, FAMS communication channels, the NAC and NAC POCs and the Evolution Network.

The most important element in our emergency plan is our ability to surge and rapidly deploy thousands of TSOs and FAMs to assist and support our fellow employees in the impacted areas and to be a critical part of FEMA’s well-trained emergency response teams. Our employees are our most valuable resource and our greatest security asset. We have taken these and other steps because we care about you. When we say "Your safety is our priority," we’re not just talking about passengers.

Thank you for all the work you do to keep us, and each other, safe.

TSA Teaming Up with Local Law Enforcement

In Austin, TSA Partners With Bomb Squad

By Ignacio Reyes Jr., Stakeholder Relations and Customer Support and Quality Improvement Manager, Austin-Bergstrom (Texas) International Airport

Austin TSA partnered with the local police department's bomb squad throughout May on real time improvised explosive device (IED) training that also included airport staff and stakeholders.

Coordinated by Bomb Appraisal Officers Larry Sanders and Leo Arambula, the collaborative training featured tightly controlled demonstrations conducted in an open field at a closed golf course. Training also included educational briefings and opportunities to hold dismantled explosive materials. Training aids included carry-on and suitcase demos loaded with the explosives.

"We worked together with TSA representatives to provide tailored training to maximize the impact," said Officer Robert Nunez of the police bomb squad.

The interactive training gave TSA employees more appreciation of the value of screening operations and better understanding of why TSA focuses on intercepting IEDs.

"Our relationship with local law enforcement colleagues is outstanding," said George Robinson, Assistant FSD for Law Enforcement. "We are all in tune with recognizing the real and potential threats to our city and home airport environment. This impact training was a unique outreach and educational opportunity for all of us."

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OSO, TSNM Bring in Bomb Squads, Canine Teams

By Steve McElroy, Outreach Officer, Explosives Operations Division, Office of Security Operations

A bomb technician trains for counter-IED operations. Photo courtesy of TSA Explosives Operations Division

The Office of Security Operations teamed with Transportation Sector Network Management (TSNM) - Mass Transit recently to provide advanced counter-improvised explosive device (IED) training for 151 local law enforcement bomb technicians from three different states.

Ten certified bomb squads from California, Nevada, and Arizona, and three San Diego Harbor Patrol Canine Teams, took part in TSA’s Bomb Squad Response to Transportation Systems training event May 18-22 in San Diego. Instructors were Explosives Security Specialists and Bomb Appraisal Officers from TSA’s Explosives Operations Division (EOD).

The training specifically addressed threats posed by unattended and suspicious items, suicide bombers, and multiple explosive devices. Simulated IEDs were placed on commercial aircraft, heavy rail passenger and freight rail trains and buses to offer realistic training scenarios.

The program was designed to prepare public safety bomb technicians and military explosive ordnance disposal technicians to deter, detect and respond to explosives threats to transportation systems. In August the EOD will deliver the next training in Denver, and training also is planned in New York, Boston, Washington, Nashville, Tenn., and Richmond, Va.

"The partnership between the EOD and TSNM provides for the enhancement of critical counter-IED skills development where it counts most – in the first responder community," said Sonya Proctor, Assistant Deputy General Manager for security training and exercise coordination within the Mass Transit Division, TSNM.

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Pittsburgh TSA and Law Enforcement Collaborate on Child Safety

By Laura Snell, Customer Service and Quality Improvement Manager and Model Workplace Coordinator, Pittsburgh International Airport

Photo by Lisa McComas

At the third annual Child Safety Day held recently at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, TSA partnered with law enforcement to distribute safety information and fingerprint and photograph children as a precaution in the event of a child’s abduction.

Parents received amber sticks (a digital media device) with their child’s photo, fingerprints and information on how to protect their child from predators.

More than 10,000 visitors attended and approximately 2,700 children received information and were fingerprinted.

“Child Safety Day is another important way in which we contribute to the overall well-being and security of our community,” said FSD Joe Terrell. “These types of records are essential to aiding police in identifying a missing child and should be an essential in every family.”