MEMO
Problem Memorandum
TO: Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger, Chief, Transportation Security Administration
FROM: Lorina Fraser, Concerned Citizen
SUBJECT: Reclassification of Transportation Security Officer Title
DATE: September 12, 2015
Vice Admiral Neffenger, I am writing to request the reclassification of the title Transportation Security Officer (TSO) reflecting a higher educational requirement, training and pay grade. The current classification as it stands appears to attract a high volume of unqualified individuals posing a serious threat to our national security at U.S. airports.
As you are aware, the key educational requirements for a TSO are:
• A high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) credentials OR at least one year of full-time work experience in the security industry, aviation screening, or as an x-ray technician.
• Be proficient in the English language (i.e., able to read, speak, and comprehend).1
I recommend that applicants for a TSO position must have at least an associate’s degree and 5 years or more law enforcement or military backgrounds with specialized skills in detection and interrogation experience. These requirements would mirror the security protocol used in Israel for selection of their airport security officers. Most security officers at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport are highly trained army graduates who have specialized skills in detection and interrogation.2 Israeli security experts are emphatic that a candidate must be educated and possess the ability to at least speak two languages.3. As a result, the last time there was a terrorist attack on an Israeli airline was July 23, 1986. While the Israeli system is not infallible, it is notable that there were significantly lower breaches of airport security reported compared to the United States.
Pay scales must be adjusted in the interest of national security to attract the best and the brightest individuals for the job. A full time TSO is paid approximately $14.95 to $21.36 ranging from part-time to full time respectively; 4 barely allowing these employees to meet cost of living expenses. This begs the question of the quality of the recruits and the probability of whether there is an intrinsic desire to serve in this capacity to protect national security. Or, is the job TSO as currently defined a means to an end. The reclassification of this position to include a different pay grade, educational and training requirements will be viewed by qualified candidates as a career track for upward mobility, rather than a dead end job. There is room for doubt as to whether employees will remain engaged and committed to protecting national security if they can barely sustain themselves and family.
TSA officers are charged with ensuring national security, yet they are the lowest paid Federal workers.5 In addition to being the lowest paid Federal workers, the skill set and training requirements for employment in this position are minimal and are not in line with the scope of responsibilities to prevent a terrorist attack. Recognizing that there is a push to reduce cost that have ballooned out of control, it appears that in this scenario business decisions at TSA regarding pay are dogmatically based on conventional wisdom that suggests pay does not equal motivation. However, serious security breaches as noted in the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General’s February 23, 2015 report where TSA agents were deficient in their performance of baggage and passenger screenings, raises serious concerns whether TSO’s lack commitment to their job responsibilities and questions their qualification and training. Strategic covert operations to determine if policies and procedures were being followed yielded negative results regarding human and technological failures. Examples are: screeners at airport checkpoints failed to detect weapons and other prohibited items 95 percent of the time in covert tests.6 Also the New York Times reported that a TSA screener stopped an undercover agent who set off an alarm during a covert operation but failed to detect an explosive taped to the individual during a pat down.7
The Department of Homeland Security has placed emphasis on expending significant capital on high end technology for screening and detection at U.S. airport. A cost of $160 million in total was spent on body and X-ray scanners8. Though these investments were made, failure occurred both at the human and technological levels. Thought should be given to reducing the amount of capital invested in technology and, instead, greater investments made in recruiting and training highly qualified individuals for this position who are capable of thinking and performing, if required, independently of technological assistance to reduce terrorist attempts. Israeli airport security still maintains traditional methods of metal detection with no sophisticated X-ray machines.9 Security officials such as Israeli El Al security chief Isaac Yeffet believes that U.S. airport security is over-reliant on technology where the focus should be on highly trained individuals. He believes that “X-ray machines can help in assisting the security people, but can never replace the qualified and well-trained personnel that can determine who is innocent, and who is not, by the interview process.”10 Bart Elias, specialist in aviation policy noted in a report to Congress “a variety of factors may contribute to these human performance limitations, including inadequate training, lack of motivation and job satisfaction, fatigue, and work place conditions, as well as general human perception and performance limitations.”11
No security system is infallible, but developing layers of systematic security measures must include the appropriate personnel to carry out these measures effectively. One of the measures for remediation includes the appropriate classification of the job title TSO with selective employment criteria with emphasis on education requirements and pay grade, thereby, recruiting qualified TSOs. As noted by Howard Risher “the turnover of trained, proven performers is more costly than salary increases. None of the alternatives—vacancies, less qualified hires or outsourcing—is satisfactory. The General Schedule is not the answer. The classification standard for the Security Administration job series was last revised in 1987. Requisite expertise is changing rapidly.”12 As it stands today, due to lack of appropriate qualifications and training, TSA agents are ill equipped to deal with well educated, trained terrorists.
Preventing breaches in airport security at U.S. airports must be a priority since the risk of an attack is always imminent. The United States is not immune from continued terrorist activities and unrest currently taking place around the world today. If terrorist were to breach U.S. airport security, it will undoubtedly result in high death rates, be it on an airplane, or on the ground. We
must stay vigilant, properly educate and train our frontline security staff at national airports. Without question, our airport TSA agents must have the right educational qualification and training.
As the newly appointed head of TSA there are significant security challenges to be addressed. You stated to a House Panel on July 29, 2015 that your main priority is to develop solutions to the failures identified by the Inspector General at the checkpoints.13 I strongly urge you to consider and implement my recommendation as you move forward in ensuring national security.
I thank you for your time and attention to this matter and would welcome an opportunity to work with you on developing and implementing this recommendation.
Endnotes:
1. USA JOBS
11 Sept. 2015< https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/301113700>.
2. Daniel Wagner and James Bell, What Israeli Airport Security Teaches the World.
06 Jun. 2012 <http://www.internationalpolicydigest.org/2012/06/19/what-israeli-airport-security-teaches-the- world/>.
3. How the Israelis Do Airport Security.
01 Jan. 2010 < http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/11/yeffet.air.security.israel/>.
4. USA JOBS
11 Sept. 2015 <https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/301113700>.
5. Brian Naylor, TSA Officers Among Lowest Paid Of Federal Workers.
26 Jan. 2010 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122948752>.
6. John Roth, Major Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Department of Homeland Security. OIG-15-09 (Revised) Office of the Inspector General,
23 Feb. 2015 < https://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2015/OIG_15-09_Feb15.pdf>.
7. Jada F. Smith, Head of T.S.A. Out After Tests Reveal Flaws.
02 Jun. 2015 <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/us/head-of-tsa-out-after-tests-reveal-flaws.html>.
8. Airport body scanners fail to provide promised security.
19 Aug. 2015 < http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20150819-airport-body-scanners-fail-to-provide-promised-security>.
9. Ursula Owre Masterson, Flight Lessons from Israel.
11 Mar. 2002 <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3071586/ns/us_news-only/t/flight-lessons-israel/#.VfX32JqFNdg>.
10. Ursula Owre Masterson, Flight Lessons from Israel.
11 Mar. 2002 <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3071586/ns/us_news-only/t/flight-lessons-israel/#.VfX32JqFNdg>.
11. Bart Elias, Congressional Research Service: Airport Passenger Screening: Background and
Issues for Congress.
23 Apr. 2009 < https://books.google.com/books?id=nW3kZay_eKEC&pg=PT9&lpg=PT9&dq>
12. Howard Risher, Front-Line Morale Problems are Threatening Homeland Security.
30 Sept. 2014 <http://www.govexec.com/management/2014/09/front-line-morale-problems-are-threatening-homeland-security/95441/>.
13. Bart Jansen, House panel urges new TSA chief to fix problems with screening, workers.
29 Jul. 2015 < http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/07/29/house-neffenger-tsa-hearing/30823893/House panel urges new TSA chief to fix problems with screening, workers>.