Pick out the air marshal

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing, one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first. Now it wouldn't take a
rocket scientist to conclude that these guys could be air marshals. Maybe
I'm wrong, but I think the odds are that I'm right. Think a bad guy could
reach the same conclusion? So my question is do the marshals routinely
preboard the flights? This isn't the first time I've heard that they do
this. If this is the case, why do they do this if they know it makes their
guys stick out?

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:30:32 -0400, "Pan" wrote:

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing, one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first. Now it wouldn't take a
rocket scientist to conclude that these guys could be air marshals. Maybe
I'm wrong, but I think the odds are that I'm right. Think a bad guy could
reach the same conclusion? So my question is do the marshals routinely
preboard the flights? This isn't the first time I've heard that they do
this. If this is the case, why do they do this if they know it makes their
guys stick out?


Ever read "The Purloined letter" by Poe? About hiding something in
plain sight?

You focus on the obvious ones, so you don't see the less obvious one
or ones who might be in with the crowd. Never watch the hand waving
the wand or youwill see only what you were meant to see. There's a
lot of mess-ups with TSA and DHS but there's a lot of rock solid and
very well trained people in the air marshall program, one hell of a
lot of them ex-military with real combat training and special ops.
Always distrust the obvious.

Jim P.

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:30:32 -0400, "Pan" wrote:

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing, one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first. Now it wouldn't take a
rocket scientist to conclude that these guys could be air marshals. Maybe
I'm wrong, but I think the odds are that I'm right. Think a bad guy could
reach the same conclusion? So my question is do the marshals routinely
preboard the flights? This isn't the first time I've heard that they do
this. If this is the case, why do they do this if they know it makes their
guys stick out?


Ever read "The Purloined letter" by Poe? About hiding something in
plain sight?

You focus on the obvious ones, so you don't see the less obvious one
or ones who might be in with the crowd. Never watch the hand waving
the wand or youwill see only what you were meant to see. There's a
lot of mess-ups with TSA and DHS but there's a lot of rock solid and
very well trained people in the air marshall program, one hell of a
lot of them ex-military with real combat training and special ops.
Always distrust the obvious.

Jim P.

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 19:09:47 -0700, Jim wrote:

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:30:32 -0400, "Pan" wrote:

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing, one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first. Now it wouldn't take a
rocket scientist to conclude that these guys could be air marshals. Maybe
I'm wrong, but I think the odds are that I'm right. Think a bad guy could
reach the same conclusion? So my question is do the marshals routinely
preboard the flights? This isn't the first time I've heard that they do
this. If this is the case, why do they do this if they know it makes their
guys stick out?


Ever read "The Purloined letter" by Poe? About hiding something in
plain sight?

You focus on the obvious ones, so you don't see the less obvious one
or ones who might be in with the crowd. Never watch the hand waving
the wand or youwill see only what you were meant to see. There's a
lot of mess-ups with TSA and DHS but there's a lot of rock solid and
very well trained people in the air marshall program, one hell of a
lot of them ex-military with real combat training and special ops.
Always distrust the obvious.

Jim P.

All of them look and act exactly as Pan said in the message.

In fact, within the last year I read where the air marshals were
publically complaining about how they were forced to dress and look.

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 19:09:47 -0700, Jim wrote:

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:30:32 -0400, "Pan" wrote:

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing, one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first. Now it wouldn't take a
rocket scientist to conclude that these guys could be air marshals. Maybe
I'm wrong, but I think the odds are that I'm right. Think a bad guy could
reach the same conclusion? So my question is do the marshals routinely
preboard the flights? This isn't the first time I've heard that they do
this. If this is the case, why do they do this if they know it makes their
guys stick out?


Ever read "The Purloined letter" by Poe? About hiding something in
plain sight?

You focus on the obvious ones, so you don't see the less obvious one
or ones who might be in with the crowd. Never watch the hand waving
the wand or youwill see only what you were meant to see. There's a
lot of mess-ups with TSA and DHS but there's a lot of rock solid and
very well trained people in the air marshall program, one hell of a
lot of them ex-military with real combat training and special ops.
Always distrust the obvious.

Jim P.

All of them look and act exactly as Pan said in the message.

In fact, within the last year I read where the air marshals were
publically complaining about how they were forced to dress and look.

very well trained people in the air marshall program, one hell of a
lot of them ex-military with real combat training and special ops.
Always distrust the obvious.

Military types may be trained in camouflage in the bushes, but not in a crowd.
Just because they may be very good during some sort of criminal/terrorist
attempt doesn't mean that they are any good at being innocuous in a crowd.


All of them look and act exactly as Pan said in the message.

I wouldn't go that far. But eventually, their job becomes quite routine and
yes, an observant person will see some trend.

In fact, within the last year I read where the air marshals were
publically complaining about how they were forced to dress and look.

Correct. And there was also a very high turnover for what is essentially a
very boring job (read newspapers and sit down all day).

Eventually, they'll clue in that they may as well make the marhsalls visible.

What they REALLY should have done is get the crews (FAs) trained as marshalls.
Perhaps not realistic when you consider the type of people who are hired as
FAs, but if it were possible, it would be the best solution.

Quoting "Pan" regarding Pick out the air marshal in a
message dated Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:30:32 -0400:

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing, one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first.

I think something similar happend to me on a CO Hong Kong flight. Comming home
from HKG, I was standing first in line to board the jet in the BF section. when
this guy (old {mid-late 50's} with balding hair and wearing the loudest
multi-colored sear-sucker summer jacket I've ever seen) kept trying to cut in
front of me in line. Apparenly, the crew was familiar with him ("Hey... howya
doin'? Long time no see..." kind of chat....). Anyway, they let him board
before anyone else, and he took a window alone seat in row 3 (3A). I was in
2A, and when the laptop port in 2A wouldn't work, I tried to plug it into 3B to
see if that would work.

The man didn't say anything, but the FA's came racing over to me and told me to
"get away and not bother 'the gentleman'!" They asked why I was there and when
I told them, they said "if you wait a minute, we'll find you another seat that
works" - which they did. As it turned out, I got seat 1L by myself (bulkead)
with no seatmate!!!!

So that's what I was thinking as well - that this guy must have been the air
marshall.. Either that, or he was one helluva VIP flyer!!


__________________________________

Regards,
Arnold.

(E-mail address altered, to prevent spamming. :-|
Remove all asterisks and the *hates*spam* to get true address.)

Quoting "Pan" regarding Pick out the air marshal in a
message dated Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:30:32 -0400:

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing, one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first.

I think something similar happend to me on a CO Hong Kong flight. Comming home
from HKG, I was standing first in line to board the jet in the BF section. when
this guy (old {mid-late 50's} with balding hair and wearing the loudest
multi-colored sear-sucker summer jacket I've ever seen) kept trying to cut in
front of me in line. Apparenly, the crew was familiar with him ("Hey... howya
doin'? Long time no see..." kind of chat....). Anyway, they let him board
before anyone else, and he took a window alone seat in row 3 (3A). I was in
2A, and when the laptop port in 2A wouldn't work, I tried to plug it into 3B to
see if that would work.

The man didn't say anything, but the FA's came racing over to me and told me to
"get away and not bother 'the gentleman'!" They asked why I was there and when
I told them, they said "if you wait a minute, we'll find you another seat that
works" - which they did. As it turned out, I got seat 1L by myself (bulkead)
with no seatmate!!!!

So that's what I was thinking as well - that this guy must have been the air
marshall.. Either that, or he was one helluva VIP flyer!!


__________________________________

Regards,
Arnold.

(E-mail address altered, to prevent spamming. :-|
Remove all asterisks and the *hates*spam* to get true address.)

"john" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 19:09:47 -0700, Jim wrote:

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:30:32 -0400, "Pan" wrote:

Why is it that the air marshals board the plane before everybody else?
Yesterday, while waiting to board a flight, I noticed two gentlemen who
obviously were in good physical condition, dressed in business clothing,
one
with military style hair and the other with a shaved head, preboard the
flight ahead of the announced general boarding. Later when I got on I
noticed the shaved head one sitting in Row 2 first class aisle, and the
other one in the bulkhead seat right behind first. Now it wouldn't take
a
rocket scientist to conclude that these guys could be air marshals.
Maybe
I'm wrong, but I think the odds are that I'm right. Think a bad guy
could
reach the same conclusion? So my question is do the marshals routinely
preboard the flights? This isn't the first time I've heard that they do
this. If this is the case, why do they do this if they know it makes
their
guys stick out?


Ever read "The Purloined letter" by Poe? About hiding something in
plain sight?

You focus on the obvious ones, so you don't see the less obvious one
or ones who might be in with the crowd. Never watch the hand waving
the wand or youwill see only what you were meant to see. There's a
lot of mess-ups with TSA and DHS but there's a lot of rock solid and
very well trained people in the air marshall program, one hell of a
lot of them ex-military with real combat training and special ops.
Always distrust the obvious.

Jim P.

All of them look and act exactly as Pan said in the message.

In fact, within the last year I read where the air marshals were
publically complaining about how they were forced to dress and look.'

No, not all.

My wife and I were flying home to SFO from NY last month. We both got
last-minute upgrades to F -- me to a window seat -- 2F, she to a bulkhead
aisle -- 1B. After we took off, I asked my seatmate in the 2E aisle
whether he'd consider switching with my wife so that she could sit next to
me. He declined, very politely, saying that he didn't like bulkheads. This
is a reasonable position and I was, after all, asking a favor, so I didn't
think anything more about it. Our exchange was, evidently, overheard by an
FA. After we landed, I hit the head and, when I came out, the FA told me,
"The reason that man next to you wouldn't switch seats is because he's an
air marshall and he couldn't see the cockpit door if he sat in 1B. I just
don't want you to think he was being rude." I hadn't thought he was rude,
but it was interesting info -- as far as I'm concerned he looked like any
other business person travelling on that flight, and I wouldn't have had a
clue that he was an air marshall if the FA hadn't told me. He didn't sleep,
and declined the meal, but otherwise didn't do anything which attracted
attention. However, in retrospect, I realize that there was never a time
when he wasn't alert to what was going on in the cabin. Frankly, I was
pretty impressed with his professionalism and demeanor. I hope all air
marshalls are that good.

PTRAVEL extrapolated from data available...



No, not all.

My wife and I were flying home to SFO from NY last month. We both got
last-minute upgrades to F -- me to a window seat -- 2F, she to a
bulkhead aisle -- 1B. After we took off, I asked my seatmate in the
2E aisle whether he'd consider switching with my wife so that she
could sit next to me. He declined, very politely, saying that he
didn't like bulkheads. This is a reasonable position and I was, after
all, asking a favor, so I didn't think anything more about it. Our
exchange was, evidently, overheard by an FA. After we landed, I hit
the head and, when I came out, the FA told me, "The reason that man
next to you wouldn't switch seats is because he's an air marshall and
he couldn't see the cockpit door if he sat in 1B. I just don't want
you to think he was being rude." I hadn't thought he was rude, but it
was interesting info -- as far as I'm concerned he looked like any
other business person travelling on that flight, and I wouldn't have
had a clue that he was an air marshall if the FA hadn't told me. He
didn't sleep, and declined the meal, but otherwise didn't do anything
which attracted attention. However, in retrospect, I realize that
there was never a time when he wasn't alert to what was going on in
the cabin. Frankly, I was pretty impressed with his professionalism
and demeanor. I hope all air marshalls are that good.



Some generalized ID tipoffs, but not always true....

Not as official policy but a psychological trend, fairly short haircut.

30-50 (mostly, but a few older fit retired law enforcement officers, some
evidence of physical fitness (no obvious beer guts, etc.). A large
percentage of air marshalls have prior military service

Shoes...unlikely to wear Italian or "penny" loafers, and cross-trainers
etc., do stick out when compared to the next clue....

Air marshalls carry pistols (and not the Saturday Night Special sort),
fairly big and clumsy, requiring a waist holster (or possibly but rarely if
at all a shoulder rig). Therefore, other than if able to wear of camp or
guayabera type shirt to cover and conceal the sidearm, air marshalls will
wear a blazer, suit coat or other long jacket.

There are a few females in the ranks.

If there is a "look" striven for in official policy/training/monitoring, it
would be to blend in among everyday business travelers, however, for those
who routinely fly, separating air marshalls from traveling lawyers (who
with accountants seem to occupy half the seats in my domestic journies) may
be easier. Young lawyers buy their suits from a different rack.

TMO