After 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration was created in order to make our country's transportation system safer.
Currently, the agency has around 50,000 employees who work in a variety of positions including screeners and air marshals.
TSA screeners are responsible for keeping places such as airports, train stations, and subways safe. This means they search passengers and their luggage for anything harmful (like weapons, drugs, and bombs) by using equipment that may include metal detectors, x-ray machines, and cameras. Other duties include educating travelers, recording information about luggage that set off alarms, watching for those who have their pictures posted at checkpoints, and overseeing several transportation related responsibilities of the federal government when a national emergency occurs.
To apply for this position, you must be: at least eighteen years of age, a U.S. citizen or a U.S. national, fluent in English, dependable, able to carry or lift as much as seventy pounds, and able to remain focused (especially in highly stressful situations).
The TSA performs a background check on all prospective screeners. It will either be a traditional investigation or a single-scope background investigation, which is more complex. The traditional looks into employment & criminal history, and financial records, while the single-scope check also involves interviewing colleagues and neighbors.
New hires must undergo 120 hours of training before they are permitted to screen passengers. To maintain agency certification, screeners must pass an annual written examination and image interpretation. While on the job, training never stops as at times, undercover TSA agents attempt to get by security with contraband.
Job advancement is available to TSA screeners who have good job performance along with educational and professional credentials. Positions include bomb appraisal officer, transportation security manager, and TSA trainer.
Air marshals (also called sky marshals) fly undercover on airplanes around the world in order to protect passengers and crews from hostile acts. They usually fly 181 days per year, and their responsibilities include identifying suspicious activity, evaluating the environment, and conducting investigations in an attempt to protect the airline from a terroristic attack.
Candidates must be under the age of forty and hold a bachelor's degree or higher. They also need to have at least three years of administrative, investigative, professional, or technical experience. Those who make it past the highly competitive first round, will face an extensive background check, fingerprinting, drug testing, mental health screenings, and an interview with officials.
The mandatory, comprehensive training program prepares all candidates to take to the sky. They spend the first thirty-five days of the basic training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in New Mexico before relocating to Atlantic City, New Jersey for forty-three days. After completion, candidates who gain employment with the Federal Air Marshall Service must then take part in a sixteen week training program. At this time, they learn things such as aircraft medicine, aircraft safety, how to recognize both criminal and terroristic behavior, international law, and how to lawfully arrest suspects. They also learn close quarter self-defense and how to use firearms.
Along with working at airports, air marshals can also find employment with the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the National Targeting Center.
Air marshals who have experience and a good record can be promoted to a supervisory position or senior management.