Frost
Well-Known Member
TSA-Inspection
This sounds about right.....
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 any bullets.
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] To top it
off, the TSA demanded we all be swabbed for "explosive residue" detection.
Everyone failed, [go figure, we just came home from a war zone], because we
tested positive for "Gun Powder Residue". Who the F**K is hiring these people?
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. Can someone please tell me What the F**K?
happened to OUR country while we were gone?
Sgt. Mad Dog Tracy: I think I'd better sell my savings bonds while they still have value.
This sounds about right.....
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 any bullets.
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] To top it
off, the TSA demanded we all be swabbed for "explosive residue" detection.
Everyone failed, [go figure, we just came home from a war zone], because we
tested positive for "Gun Powder Residue". Who the F**K is hiring these people?
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. Can someone please tell me What the F**K?
happened to OUR country while we were gone?
Sgt. Mad Dog Tracy: I think I'd better sell my savings bonds while they still have value.
