Aviation Security

Aviation Security Be sure to give proper attribution by referencing and citing any borrowed work that you utilize in answering these question sets and follow the MLA or APA style for your works cited page and in-text citations. Utilize 12 point font, preferably Times New Roman or Arial. Your work should be single spaced and your ideas broken up into appropriate paragraphs. You may use 1 inch margins all around. There are 5 broad question sets that need to be answered. The Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) has been around in some form since 1968. It was originally called the Sky Marshal Program and was under the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The program was never very large and at times has consisted of only a handful of agents. The overall mission has changed from time to time but after 1985 missions were primarily conducted on aircraft heading to and returning from overseas locations. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the program expanded tremendously almost overnight. It was one of the fastest and largest federal government agency expansions in history. Currently the FAMS has an annual budget of over $950 Million. The program was eventually shifted to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) where it remains today, which is under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The total number of Federal Air Marshals is classified but it is rumored to be in the thousands. Even with thousands of agents, it is only possible to cover but a very small proportion of all commercial aviation flights daily. It has been reported that less than 1% of flights over the United States everyday have an Air Marshal on board, since there are around 30,000 commercial aircraft flights over the United States daily. Certain aircraft have high priority in being covered by FAM's. Federal Air Marshals undergo extensive training and have the highest firearms qualification standards in the federal government. In the past, aircraft hijackings were actually quite common worldwide. They occurred much less frequently nationally but they still happened from time to time. They rarely ended violently though. Usually the motives of hijackers were political or financial. They often demanded to be flown to a remote location and made negotiations with authorities. September 11th 2001 changed everything. We were not expecting such bold suicidal acts by hijackers. Luckily there have been no aviation hijacking attempts over US soil since 9-11. In recent years terrorists have attempted to use improvised explosive devices to blow up aircraft in midflight. The Bojinka Plot alone was designed to bring down 12 US bound flights in 1995. Richard Reid, also known as the Shoe Bomber, attempted to explode a bomb hidden in his shoes aboard an aircraft over the United States on December 22, 2001. The 2006 Transatlantic Aircraft Plot, also known as the Sports Drink Suicide Airline Bomb Plot of 2006 in the United Kingdom could have taken out 7 aircraft headed for the US with improvised explosive devices. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab successfully detonated a PETN based explosive device hidden in his underwear aboard Northwest Airlines Flight # 253 over Detroit Michigan on Christmas day in 2009. Luckily the aircraft was able to land. The Yemen Cargo Planes Bomb Plot of 2010 was an attempt to blow up aircraft over the United States using timed explosives hidden in computer printer toner cartridges. It appears that terrorists are shifting towards using explosive devices smuggled onboard aircraft. Federal Air Marshal training has largely stayed unchanged. They are still primarily trained as defending against terrorist hijackers. The Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program allows for certain trained pilots and copilots to carry firearms in the locked cockpit of the aircraft during flight. This was seen as a last line of defense against a terrorist hijacking. It has been rumored that there may actually be more FFDO's than FAM's nationwide. In addition, thousands of civilian law enforcement officers travel on aircraft with their service weapons daily. All off duty officers carrying loaded weapons must first pass a training class in order to board with their weapon. This is seen as an augmentation to the overall protection of the civil aviation system. 1) Given that terrorists constantly change their tactics, is the Federal Air Marshal Service no longer relevant? Looking back at history, how likely is there to be another attempted or successful hijacking that threatens US soil? How successful were the hijackings of September 11th for Al Qaeda? Could this success be reason enough for Al Qaeda to try again in the future? 2) Should the mission of the Federal Marshal Service be modified to keep up with the current threats posed by terrorists? How could their mission and tactics be changed to prevent the detonation of an improvised explosive device in midflight? How important is the gathering, deciphering and dissemination of intelligence to the Federal Air Marshal Service? 3) Is the Federal Air Marshal Service even worth continuing given its cost? Has the Federal Air Marshal Service likely acted as a deterrent to terrorists and prevented them from even attempting another September 11th style attack? 4) Has the Federal Flight Deck Officer program nullified the overall mission of the Federal Air Marshal Service, or has it further strengthened it? How important is secrecy to the Federal Air Marshal Service? 5) What are some alternatives to having Federal Air Marshals aboard commercial aircraft to prevent hijackings? The reinforced cockpit door was one alternative; what are some other potential alternatives?