Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Air Marshal Service showcases new command center

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 02:58:10 -0500

February 24, 2004

Air Marshal Service showcases new command center

By Chris Strohm

[email-masked]

The Federal Air Marshal Service publicly
unveiled its new command center Tuesday
and announced an information-sharing
agreement with the Secret Service that will
help coordinate the deployment of armed
agents on domestic and international flights.

The Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS)
Missions Operations Center is open
round-the-clock and is the "focal point" to
receive and disseminate intelligence to plan
domestic and international missions, said
Thomas Quinn, director of the service.

"The Mission Operations Center tracks
federal air marshal teams that are in the
aviation domain worldwide everyday," he
said.

The center is located at the service's
Herndon, Va., headquarters, outside the
nation's capital, where the Transportation
Service Administration's command center
also is located. FAMS opened the
headquarters at the end of last year.

Quinn was unable to provide an estimate of how much the air marshal
command center will cost to operate, but said his service's budget for
fiscal year 2004 is about $620 million.

Quinn said the headquarters houses branches for domestic planning,
international planning and scheduling and reservations, as well as the
Missions Operations Center.
The service became part of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as part
of the reorganization of the Homeland Security Department. Quinn said
air marshals have dealt with numerous situations aboard aircraft but it
is difficult to prove whether an actual hijacking has been prevented.

ICE Assistant Secretary Michael Garcia also announced Tuesday an
information-sharing agreement with the Secret Service. Under this
arrangement, the Secret Service would provide air travel information for
its agents to FAMS to help with coordination.

"This will allow our air marshals to know when and where armed Secret
Service agents are flying in the country that will give FAMS the
flexibility to deploy their air marshals onto other flights," Garcia
said. "Rather than having four armed agents flying on one flight, the
FAMS can now cover additional flights by knowing when and where Secret
Service agents are flying."

The agreement does not mean Secret Service agents will act as air
marshals, said Secret Service Deputy Director C. Danny Spriggs. The
agreement simply states that FAMS will know what flights Secret Service
agents are taking.

"Under no circumstances should this agreement be interpreted to suggest
that the Secret Service agents and officers traveling are de facto [air
marshals]," Spriggs said. "We're not there to supplant the federal air
marshals that are on these aircraft. We're basically there in the normal
course of business."

Spriggs said Secret Service agents would intervene only in an emergency
aboard an aircraft if asked to do so by flight attendants. He said his
agents have the training to handle different types of emergencies,
including shooting firearms in close quarters aboard a plane if
necessary.

Under the agreement, Secret Service agents will receive a briefing on
what FAMS does, but agents will not receive any additional, special
training.
Garcia said there are about 65,000 federal agents in the United States
who are authorized to carry weapons.

ICE is training its agents to be air marshals in case the country needs
a surge capacity. About 6,000 ICE agents will eventually be trained,
while the Secret Service has about 3,100 agents.  Garcia said another
1,000 law enforcement agents fly with firearms aboard planes, leaving a
total of more than 10,000 additional agents to help FAMS.
FAMS will not disclose how many air marshals are in its ranks.

Garcia said he wants to reach agreements with other federal agencies to
have access to their agents' travel information as well.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0204/022404c1.htm
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