...are in themselves suspect as a result.
But the saddest part about this note - true or not (and I have no proof either way) is that it is, in this day and age, believeable. Which, of course, is the hallmark of a good story. That said, it's not on Snopes (or my Snopes-fu is weak) and ABC is shilling it - via The View, mind you, but still...
Here's the story as I received it:
But the saddest part about this note - true or not (and I have no proof either way) is that it is, in this day and age, believeable. Which, of course, is the hallmark of a good story. That said, it's not on Snopes (or my Snopes-fu is weak) and ABC is shilling it - via The View, mind you, but still...
Here's the story as I received it:
H/t, Mike L.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 were 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 bullets.
Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?
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
The last line is the best, "Can someone please tell me What the F**K happened to OUR country while we were gone?" What happened is that we collectively agreed not to hurt anyone's feelings except those who would suck it up and be quiet. The nannies have learned that this gives them power over those with ability and skills.
One would think they would object to military knives as well; no bullets, remember?
As far as I know from experience on my last 8 flights from about middle of 2008, nail clippers (small) are not a problem. Lighters are also allowed, even my big fat, lights in a boat doing 20 knots, Zippo. They have questioned my 6LB and 3wt fishing line that I take with me on trips, (You can tie people up with that)(My answer was, I'm not ruining my $70 fly line with any stupid pranks)(It wasn't $70 but one just doesn't show up at a fishing camp without equipment and we always carry our rods and reels and never check them. The airlines won't pay enough to replace if lost and sitting around a fishing camp without a rod is heart breaking)
The story sounds logical because we all know it could happen. IF it happened is the question. My question is, where were the officers when all this BS was happening? They should have started screaming at the first minute. Nobody, but nobody should screw with our troops.
I would have asked the TSA guy if he'd ever heard the phrase "Buttstroke to the head series."
"UPDATE: I’m getting a lot of emails asking if this is actually true and is this person actually someone I know. (1) Yes it is true — it is too absurd to be made up. (2) Yes, I know the person."
www.redstate.com/erick/2010/11/18/another-tsa-outrage/
But as to the second point about being confined to a secure area and not having to be searched again. - being sure about that went out the window when I watched the TSA vid of the woman trying to keep the breast milk from being X-rayed. The TSA released the video themselves and it clearly shows her being kept in the clear glass box after inspection. Then when she finally wins some of her point, and keeps the milk from being X-rayed, they make her go through another search. It was utter nonsense. Therefore I can believe that people kept in a secure area may be searched anyway.
As far as this particular story, I also read the original at RedState. I think there is something true about it. I don't believe it's made up out of whole clothe. I think something happened and it's gone through the usual game of "Telephone" here on the internet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XhnZlmLGK8&feature=player_embedded
As for the woman with the brest milk, this looks like a setup to me. Not defending TSA but several question come to mind. Why is she traveling with brest milk but no kid? Why does she need the milk? Through out the 50's and 60's many of us were given Formula. It wouldn't kill the kid to get an occational feeding with Formula. Why doesn't she want the Formula X-rayed? It doen't hurt the Formula or the kid!!
The really amazing thing to me, is that if TSA had a history with her, and they knew she was going to do this, you would have thought that they would have suspected it was a setup and just ignored her. This really puts the TSA at the bottom of the dumb heap.
The big kahoonas are routinely passed through as they aren't subject to the same thing us peasants are. Judges ignore the law and the constitution when either are an inconvenience. The legal profession could do something about it, but they refuse to police themselves.
TSA is just another part of the picture. The rule of law is but a figment of our fevered imagination.
Bill, are you going to be stuck in the ME or will you make it home for Christmas?