This brave Federal Air Marshal, Spencer Pickard, put his own life on the line to expose his agency's inane and hazardous policies.

He was on 3 different NATIONAL NETWORK TV shows, 3 different times with his name and face fully exposed.

Air Marshals should be renamed "Dana Brown's SCARE MARSHALS," because that is what he wants them to be. We may as well just sit a air marshal dummy-doll on the plane and duct-tape a fully loaded weapon to it.

This proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the Federal Air Marshal Service could care less about ANY FAM's anonymity.

Governments like to keep secrets. This is a simple fact of life.

There are things that the government says and does that they would rather not have disclosed to anyone other than those with a "need to know".

To this end, the government has created a whole series of "classifications" that dictate exactly who gets to know what. There are even parts of this classification system that are themselves classified to prevent people from revealing that that particular classification category is very important.

The whole thing smacks of "Big Brother" and is enough to give anyone a headache. Believe it or not, there is a method to the madness –– Information is power!

Our government goes to great lengths to protect certain types of information because it wants to keep our enemies in the dark. Why? The amount of information that you know about your enemy's strengths and weaknesses can have an incredible impact on how well you can defend yourself and attack him.

It's just like having another football team's playbook. If you know exactly what the other team plans to do in every possible situation, then your defense and offense will be able to stop the other guy cold and win the game.

This can be applied to almost any highly competitive activity: Baseball, business, stocks, courtroom litigation, and yes, even national defense. It's the reason why our nation spends trillions of dollars on intelligence collection, and it's also the reason why we try to guard our national defense secrets so closely. Everyone understands this....

Everyone except for the current Federal Air Marshal Service Director Dana Brown, and the former impotent Director Thomas Dewey Quinn.

You see both of these incompetent Directors believe that the best way to defend our nation's commercial airliners is by giving the bad guys our entire playbook.

Director Thomas Dewey Quinn has allowed CNN (and other news networks) complete access to all of the Federal Air Marshal Service's secrets (which is classified as "Sensitive Security Information" (dissemination and discussion of which is strictly limited to US law enforcement and intelligence agencies only) Quinn then authorized those same media outlets to release that information to the world.

To make matters worse, a high-ranking executive within Federal Air Marshal Service Headquarters, has now leaked information that former Director Thomas Dewey Quinn had been providing national security information to civilians that had absolutely no "need to know" Federal Air Marshal tactics and operational procedures.

This latest leak provides photographs of country western singer Lyle Lovett, and an unidentified woman, being personally escorted by former Director Quinn, through the high security areas of the Federal Air Marshal Service Headquarters secret training facility.

The photos also show Quinn allowing Lovett and the unidentified woman access to the secret training facilities while Federal Air Marshals were practicing the very tactics that they may have to use to defend airliners from terrorists. Quinn then allowed Lovett and his female companion to actually participate in the secret training. Lovett is one of Quinn's "motorcycle buddies".

This type of abuse of authority has been going on for quite some time and has often involved several other high-ranking executives in the Federal Air Marshal Service (the Headquarters leak is now believed to have come from senior executives within the Service who realize that their own survival hinged upon the removal of former Director Quinn.

Why would former Director Thomas Dewey Quinn allow this irresponsible release of SSI information to occur? Surely Quinn, a former executive in the US Secret Service, is well aware of the necessity to keep protective measures a secret. Right?

The US Secret Service would never ever allow anyone to know how their agents plan to protect the president in any scenario, let alone film those agents practicing the tactics they would use, and then release that information to the world.

The US Secret Service has never even disclosed to the media whether or not the President's limo has armor or not. That type of classified information would jeopardize the safety of the President, and it would severely reduce the effectiveness of the US Secret Service as a law enforcement agency.

Yet this is exactly what both Director Dana Brown and former Director Thomas Dewey Quinn have done to the men and women of the Federal Air Marshal Service.

By revealing every little detail about an air marshal's mission and methods, both Brown and Quinn have placed the lives of the flying public in mortal danger. Even the US Secret Service knows that a bunch of agents in pretty business suits can only go so far to protect someone.

At least Secret Service agents have high altitude sniper/surveillance teams, move together in large teams, wear body armor, utilize state-of-the-art equipment, and use radios to communicate –– none of which air marshals have at their disposal.

Former Director Thomas Dewey Quinn unbelievably advertised to the world on the February 17, 2005 CNN video, that Federal Air Marshals, while in flight, CANNOT communicate with each other or the Mission Operations Center on their PDAs. Unbelievabley, the very same PDAs Quinn personally ordered and acquisitioned himself!

Can you say Datamaxx? This is the company that supplied the Service with the costly, yet faulty PDA software, that has NEVER functioned properly to this day!

The hard truth is that any terrorist willing to sacrifice their life, will succeed in an assassination attempt, because visible deterrence only works against people who ARE afraid to die.

Organizations like Al Qaeda are actually feared by the US Secret Service because these people are not afraid to die and are not afraid to sacrifice 10, 20, or even a hundred innocent civilians, in order to overwhelm "the men in black" and achieve their goals (which is why the US Secret Service does not allow its protectees into areas with this type of threat).

This is exactly the type of threat that Federal Air Marshals face everyday, and the element of surprise is the most important advantage that they have to combat any threat.

The US Secret Service will employ 300 agents to protect ONE person; whereas, a single federal air marshal could be assigned to protect 300 people all in a tightly enclosed environment (with the likely scenario that the bad guys are among the 300 people). Now who do you think has the tougher assignment?

Terrorists cannot plan a successful hijacking if they don't know the specifics of who, where, how, or how many when dealing with Federal Air Marshals. Let's face it, terrorists are very risk adverse.

Terrorists will never attempt something that could become an embarrassment to them, therefore they will never attempt anything that they are not reasonably sure will succeed. Nothing hurts a terrorist cause like a news story talking about how "Government Agency X" defeated yet another terrorist attack and demonstrated that the US homeland is in fact intact and secure.

Federal Air Marshals are committed to defending the flying public with their last breath if necessary, and we owe it to them to give them every advantage necessary to ensure that 9/11 never happens again.

Federal Air Marshals do their jobs every single day knowing that they may face overwhelming odds, and they accept this because they have unshakable faith in their training, skills, resolve, and personal dedication to those who died on 9/11.

The Federal Air Marshal motto of "Unseen, Unheard, and Undeterred" is a statement of pride among Federal Air Marshals (which in a fit of retribution against the rank and file for their fight against Quinn's foolish and dangerous "Kill-Me-First Dress Code Policy, he and his management cronies officially bastardized the motto to now only read "Unseen and Unheard", thereby removing the word "Undeterred" ).

The motto is still the basis of every Federal Air Marshal's protective value: The element of surprise will allow them to overcome ANY challenge.

The damage that current Director Dana Brown and former Director Thomas Dewey Quinn have done to the Federal Air Marshal Service and national security of the United States, is so irreparable that it is being compared to the damage inflicted by spies such as Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen, and Julius & Ethel Rosenberg.

Both Brown, and his mentor Quinn, have betrayed the agents of the Federal Air Marshal Service and provided Al Qaeda (and any other terrorist organization) with a step-by-step manual on how to spot, disable, defeat and kill Federal Air Marshals, before they even know a hijacking has begun.

After 9/11 we all vowed to "Never Forget" the thousands of Americans who died on that day. Director Dana Brown and failed Director Thomas Dewey Quinn, including all of their executive management cronies, have not only forgotten, they have betrayed an entire system dedicated to preventing another 9/11, and in doing so, they have betrayed the memories of our hollowed dead and of the citizens of the United States of America.

I am PRAYING that heads will roll.

Nothing less than a wholesale purge of the entire management superstructure of the FAM/TSA organization will do.

Then, look to the FBI. It should be next.

It is good that FAM Spencer Pickard, wrote about the dillema(s) that the Air Marshals face but I believe it's just falling on deaf ears once again. These issues have all been brought up before but to no avail. September 11th is far from the minds of many, even many of the ungrateful flight crews out there. And for the exposure issue, nothing can be done anymore; its a day late and a dolar short!

After spending a few hours reading over the various threads posted here, there are more than a few commonalities. Obviously, there are issues within the FAMS. I am currently assigned to one of the so named "Mafia offices" "down South." While I agree that a great many of the issues brought forth here are accurate, I have to take issue with the rampant Secret Sevice bashing. To post misinformation here we're not going to solve anything and it really makes us, yes, US, look bad.

To the commenter that repeatedly stated that the Secret Service are the "door stops and door holders"....come on, what does that have to do with anything? They have their mission, we have ours. They chose their mission, we chose ours. Let us not paint everyone with such a broad brush, we didn't like it when we were all called "amaturish and unprofessional" did we?

To the commenter who stated that the USSS dosen't investigate anything....well, I guess you forgot that the USSS is the principal agency in all incidents of bogus money? Did you forget that? The USSS does in fact conduct investigations. I certainly NOT a USSS fan, I agree that many of the ills that have befallen us are the direct result of "Empire building." Whenever you have a group of persons supervising that have NEVER done the job the subordinate is currently doing, you have the potential for a disaster. There is a major disconnect here, the supervisors are dictating policy from an expired playbook. What makes it worse is that when the guys and gals doing the job point this out, we're greeted with jeers and sneers from administration. The bosses fly a few times a year (one leg each way mind you) and they suddenly believe themselves to be the end-all-be-all of the proper tactical actions to take for each and every incident. They refuse to even admit that the very items depicted on TV are problems! We're fighting a war on two fronts...one in our own offices and the other out there, on the planes. Sometimes, it's difficult to determine who is the greater potential threat, the agency that publicizes practices and ignores the suggestions of it's workforce or the terrorists that are undoubtedly watching and making proper tactical adjustments based upon what they learn. They make adjustments to their plan while we remain stagnant and set in our ways because a few administrators can't see the "forrest through the trees." If this were a movie we'd be sitting in our seats thinking "what are they thinking? How can they ignore what the operators are telling them?" This isn't a movie, this is real life and real death. We have actually published video of the way we do business, there are no changes forth coming. We are sitting ducks, we can't do anything. We can't protect you the way you were led to believe we could protect you. Will I still die trying to do so tomorrow when I get on my plance and fly North? Count on it!! And count on every FAM flying every day to do the same, while it is disgusting and unbelieveable that our own government has sunk to this level, there are thousands of Federal Air Marshals out there that will die to protect that aircraft. Let's all remember that. It matters little what is going on around us and within our agency, it is unfortunate that our own agency fails to realize the incredible skill base it currently has (but for how much longer, who knows?) if we are handcuffed but inane policies and procedures more aimed at keeping our "airline partners" happy and content.
If the Agencies position is that we do what we do because of the legalities of the Code of Federal Regulations....CHANGE THEM!! When the next 4 planes crash into buildings are we going to look back THEN and say "Gee the CFR's really made it hard for the marshals to do their jobs." We keep failing to remember that our enemies learn from their mistakes. A truck bomb didn't bring down the towers...mistake. Commercial airliners did...mistake corrected. All this happens while FAMS administrators sit on outdated and insane policies.....who will answer when the next attack comes? Print out some of these posts, when the day comes someone will be able to say "we told you so." Unfortunately it will not be the corageous FAM that went to work that day, followed policy to protect his way of life and provide a good home for his family...becasue he will be one of the passengers on that doomed aircraft. So, we implore you, the American public, don't let us die here because of policies and procedures. If I die tomorrow in the course of my duty to protect and defend, so be it. But I will go down fighting until I am dead, I will never surrender I will never quit....neither will the thousands of my brother and sister FAMs. To our enemies here, looking for intel try this, you may now know where we are and how we do things, but you still have to take me out, and I can assure you it will not be as easy as you might think, dispite what my agency has done to make my job harder and yours much easier.

Upon finishing this book or watching the movie you will note the GLARING similarities between the FAM Service and the U.S. Navy's U.S.S. Caine:

The Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Herman Wouk "The Caine Mutiny" (Oscar winning major 1954 motion picture) = Management of the FAM Service since February 2002

"Captain of the Ship" Lt. Commander Phillip Francis Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) = FAM Director Thomas D. Quinn

Lt. Tom Kiefer (Fred MacMurray), the 2-faced, gutless officer who went behind closed doors to rally his fellow officers to stab Capt. Queeg in the back but in the end he ended up stabbing EVERYONE in the back = former FAMS Chief of Staff now FAMS Director Dana Brown and his fellow Secret Service Double-Dipping Retirees

Lt. Steven Merick (Van Johnson), the lone officer, risking his career, stepped up to relieve Capt. Queeg of his command in order to save the ship and the lives of his fellow crew only to face a court martial = FLEOA FAM President Frank Terreri and FAM Spencer Pickard.

Capt. Queeg ambushing his crew for not wearing life vests and helmets meanwhile the ship goes out of control and severs its tow cable = 2004 Thanksgiving Day Massacre

Capt. Queeg's dress policy "no visible shirt-tails" = Directors Quinn / Byers dress policy of mandating suits / ties

Capt. Queeg's "Missing Strawberries Investigation" = Directors Quinn / COS Dana Brown "F.T. / FAM 'Becky' People Magazine Investigation"

Ensign Harding was too afraid to tell the Navy the truth behind the "Missing Strawberries Investigation" = Experienced FAMs with good resumes are too afraid to speak out about the truth and then quit and leave the FAM Service

The U.S.S. Caine's seamen who work tirelessly to keep the ship afloat despite Capt. Queeg's reckless command and Lt. Kiefer's apathy and double-talk = Flying FAMs who slog through thick and thin despite the inept policies of Director Quinn and the IN-ACTIONS of his COS, Dana Brown.

Lt. Merick's Defense Attorney, Lt. Greenwald's (Jose Ferrer) final monologue to the U.S. Caine's officers regarding their actions and inactions = The flying public and the media's judgment of Directors Quinn / Brown gross mismanagement of the FAM Service...OR WORSE...Congressional hearings concerning another 9/11 event

The Typhoon that nearly sunk the ship because Capt. Queeg was too stubborn to rescind his orders = Another 9/11 event??? Let's pray that will never happen again, despite Director Quinn / Brown hazardous policies

The Navy's tribunal that relieved Capt. Queeg of his command and exonerated Lt. Merick's actions = Will Judge Michael Chertoff relieve Directors Quinn & Brown of their offices and exonerate F.T.???

The Navy returns the respected but unappreciated Captain Devreese back to command of the U.S.S. Caine = Will a new DHS Secretary appoint the well respected (but HQ-beleaguered) SAC of the ATL FO as the new FAM Service Director??? PULEEZ... This is the way of the U.S. Government and not a fiction novel or Hollywood happy-ending fairy tale.

ABC

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Post a direct phone number for more information!

We need to talk to the producer ASAP!

Thanks

There has never a more sinister and corrupt agency like the Federal Air Marshal Service. The managers at the Chicago office are criminals. For the sake of the lives of te American public I hope Congress continues to focus on the flagrant obstructionist FAMS managers are.

The KEYS to repair is to:
1. Deny any future employment waivers to the double-dipping hacks.
2. Clean out the Top-level Secret Service managers.
3. Initiate a top-to-bottom policy review with a board composed of flying agents only.
Just a start.

Mikey,
I understand your ideas on being a little more tolerant with the ex-Secret Service employees, but you probably have not had the interactions of many others. Maybe you have only been on the job a few months. Hopefully, this means you just have been very lucky not to have any substantial interactions with management.

First, each of the ex-SS managers (they have NEVER been leaders) has bragged repeatedly about how they have less than a year of investigative time EACH in their careers with the SS. The rest of their 20 plus years was spent on protective details. This jives with what I have seen in my past job. I was an 1811, (federal criminal investigator/special agent for those outside the Gov't) and NEVER worked with a single SS agent in ten years. Yes, I worked several task force groups. I worked eight of my ten years on task forces chock full of FBI, IRS, ATF, and state and local agents. Never was there USSS input or assistence despite two of the task forces specifically working financial crimes. This was in two major US cities with sizable SS offices.

Second, every ex-SS agent I have seen in the FAMS has shown clearly a major integrity flaw to everyone. I did not say personality or character flaw because who are any of us to point fingers. I am talking about integrity flaws.

One might treat his guys with a bit of respect, but he is a well-known thief that smuggles back cut-rate Viagra from Mexico on international missions. (This is illegal America.) He also brags of all of his hook-ups and thefts while an SS agent. "You should of been there to see all the BLANK we took when we were protecting so and so!" The hotels in our authorized list think we are run by the USSS directly as they have told us about the "Nice Secret Service Agent that set up the contract". Yes, they are so full of their past that they routinely identify themselves to people in the public as SS agents. "Hi, I'm FAMS ATSAC Pertiboy, I spent 21 years with the US Secret Service. Yup, did I tell you I protected Prince Sultan Billy Mohammed when he and his harem visited President Carter??? Yeah, I even met the President himself many times. Do you know we have codewords for them? Yeah. We are pretty amazing guys..." At this point the airline employee is wondering why this SS agent is talking to her and wondering what his primary insecurity must be. The flying FAM is very embarrassed by the average ex-SS manager.

Another might seem to be a good boss to most, but he is sleeping with and giving serious preferential treatment to his secretary. Everyone knows it as embarassing incidents and items were found at the field office. (Yes, this supervisor is the same one married for 20+ years. He also routinely talks poorly about his subordinates in nasty divorces while he just is a scumbag in his own marriage.)

Another might seem nice enough until you find he retaliates and black balls anyone offering constructive criticism. (This means you get no promotions, no raises, no international assigments, no collateral duties and no positive references to even get out of the job for simply caring enough to bring an officer safety issue to light.)

My favorite is the supervisor bragging all day about how important he was to protect the President, but then he sleeps while wearing his gun on a check-ride on the plane. Going to sleep on duty while wearing a very powerful, loaded handgun is idiocy. (Yes, America, our supervisors have not completed our training or have the qualifications to do the job - BUT THEY ACTUALLY CRITIQUE AND EVALUATE HOW WE DO OUR JOBS!!! This is just like having a candystriper evaluate the Chief of Surgery in a hospital. Wonders for morale and effectiveness.)

Finally, each of the SS managers I have encountered believes wearing a pretty suit is the way to get respect in a life and death tactical situation. They talk of how threats to their protectee cowered in fear from their JC Penny suits and white starched shirts. Please tell me if you are not getting the picture of this incompetance.

Third, each of my ex-SS bosses have repeatedly told rooms full of people they feel the SS is a far superior agency to the FBI, DEA, ATF, and Border Patrol. This is just nonsense, but they say it in an insulting manner to our faces. This is like comparing apples and hand grenades. An FBI Agent is thoroughly screened and completes a 16 week academy before moving on to a career of COMPLEX investigations. They are held to incredible standards of integrity. The Border Patrol Agent completes a rigorous training program and then goes out into the dangerous world of the southwest border dodging bullets, rocks and disease while often encountering groups of ten, twenty or fifty illegal immigrants with little or no back-up. This is an average day in the life of a Border Patrol Agent and God Bless Them for their work. The average ex-SS manager in the FAMS went through an academy and then worked a career of protective details where they were ALWAYS backed up by either elite units of the US military AND/OR local police. The local police are the real professionals. The ex-SS continue to brag of their celebrity friends, hook-ups, scams and other intregrity violations while working as an SS agent. The ex-SS agent spent a career in a suit with zero arrests while being surrounded by politicians and others of questionable morals. (The Border Patrol Agents just LOVE it when an ex-SS agent tells them how to handcuff in a training scenario. Yeah, SS real world handcuffing experience ZERO - BP Agent in five years cuffed hundreds and maybe thousands. Their work is often shrouded in secret and not privy to the light of oversight and evaluation. This is because they do not want to shake the trust of their protectee.

Now Mikey, tell me why it is so wrong for someone dedicated to the FAM mission and just a slight bit disgusted and horrified by these managers to speak in less than complimentary terms?

Be safe guys, we all know our management does not care about our safety, nor do they have the experience to understand our job.

Bravo to you Mr. Pickard. You are the hero of us all!

Thank you Congressmen, ABC and Spencer Pickard for finally standing up against this stupidity. We cannot allow another 9/11 to occur due to bureacrats and criminals from the secret svc and their cronyism.

All,
God bless ABC News and Michelle Malkin as well. Take a look at her video online backing up ABC's 20/20. The only time Michelle Malkin let me down was when I found she is already married. A brilliant woman and not hard on the eyes either.

Brian Ross - keep up the good work. You are fixing in a couple short articles what has been broken for years. Expose the SS cronyism! I am coming over from NBC and will watch ABC News from this day forward!

We need to stand up for what is right and give the most honest testimony we can to Congress! Do not be afraid of the SS. They cannot hurt you in the light of day! The truth is on our side.

Thank you Spencer for turning on the lights with ABC.

Do any Congressional staffers read the news on here? It is pretty obvious hearings need to be held. Someone needs to do something to help these guys.

I am afraid to fly at this point. How can people so inept get to such high positions? Do we remember at all what happened on 9/11???

God Bless the whistleblowers! I am afraid to do it myself.

The following POLL was given to Federal Air Marshals on their private internet forum:

Do unqualified and untrained supervisors in your field office bump air marshals from international flights, and instead fly in their place as a member of the FAM team, so that they may take short vacation trips overseas?

Yes, this occures frequently in my field office ===> 73%

Yes, this happens in my field office, but rarely ===> 14%

No, this never happens in my field office ===> 13%

It blows my mind to think of the fraud, waste, and abuse going on in this agency. I recently left the FAM service after being denied a tranfer for over a year and a half from the Denver field office to the Chicago field office. I reauested the transfer due to fact that my wife was forced to move to the Chicago area for family reasons. I was denied the transfer even though the Chicago office is greatly under staffed. It seems that the FAM service would prefer to hire a new, less qualified and less expensive group of FAMs to replace the older "disgruntled" FAMs already trained.

WFO FAM:
I would not debate you that the issues you have brought forth here are legitimate issues, but how do they relate? You have supervisors engaging in alleged criminal behaviors, but that dosen't address our three glaring issues:
Boarding
Dress
Scheduling
I understand your position, I really do, I just think we need to keep our focus (group...right!!!!) on the things that aren't being done for us, not the things others are getting away with. I try to keep everything centered as much as possible. The issues are boarding, dress and scheduling....the USSS group that has come over chose to ignore these issues. I don't want to tear them down, I want THEM to stand up and do the right thing and CHANGE it!! Focus and working groups to tell them the same things we've been saying for three years is crazy, but we've got to do it. We've once again got to tell them that these are the issues......that is all we can do. It's up to them to change them. Perhaps Congress will get around to asking the right questions someday, but for now....fix boarding, fix dress and fix scheduling and we'll be on our way to that "bad assed counter terrorist organization" that we were ALL told we were going to be. Unfortunately today, we've been watered down to a marginally effective "discreet law enforcement" agency. That, as I'm sure you'll agree, is the real crime here.
Fly safe!
See you out there, as will everybody else!

Hello,

Well I am glad to see others notice nepotism within the system. I have alleged this over two years ago with the FAM Service, TSA OCR, and DHS OCR as well in a case that is before them.

In particular my case as a veteran who receives compensation for my service, I was denied a position. Later to be hired into a different position and see children of an ASAIC and SAIC be in the service. Neither had LEO experience or where veterans. Clearly they have been hired before many veterans and other highly qualified people. To my knowledge they went to Georgia for their training since they did not have experience and it was longer than the Artesia training.

However, what about cronyism, some ATSAICS, ASAICS and SAICS have been hired who do not meet the medical standards of a FAM. The same reason they denied me a position, FAM Service does not deny this. Well they fly just like a FAM, of course under the guidance of a FAM since they are just along for the ride. They joke about it amongst themselves how after five years they will retire again, since they are in temporary positions. What will this cost the taxpayer, when Federal Air Marshals are trained and ready to step into these positions.

Merit isn’t a term used is it in hiring practices, in-band pay increase etc…?

Is the problem people just do not want to tell their friends, they did wrong and bring accountability, although this is their duty. How bad is the cancer, will the press and congress have the same effect as chemotherapy and cure it, or will it continue to spread!

Move your complaints forward to the MSPB, EEOC and the Federal Courts it is your rights not theirs.

Well, the debate is definately going back and forth among us, but please take a moment to also email your congressman and senator with the same information so that we can bring more representatives to the plate. Did you know that a 1 phone call or email is counted by congressional staffers as if 10 of the same communication have been received. You and all of your family and friends can send a message in to the congressional staffers and then you can be counted in the hundreds. Also while I realize what the three main issues are with management, let no forget the blatant discrimination that the FAMS has towards military reservists. In my office multiple reservists returning from combat zone tours in Iraq and Afganistan had their promotions to H band and I band delayed because their ATSACs had not had an opportunity to evaluate them since they had been away. I know of atleast six issues like this in my office alone. First this type of conduct is ILLEGAL under the USERRA Act, second these are FAMS that were serving in COMBAT ZONES often while taking huge paycuts of 40% - 50%. It is deplorable. Third, when special assignments, (JTTF, Special Missions, promotions) have come up these military veteran FAMS have been passed over by lesser qualified , non-military FAMs. I saw that Secretary Chertoff put a message out recently about providing veterans with increased opportunities in DHS. Hell I wish he just reviewed this and eliminated the cronyism and selected the real Best Qualified applicant as opposed to the Best Connected, Mr. Chertoff, it's time to step up and take a peek at life in the trenches