The beleaguered head of the Federal Air Marshals Service has resigned. Finally. Audrey Hudson at the Washington Times, who has reported doggedly on Quinn’s troubled tenure, has the story:

The director of the Federal Air Marshal Service last night submitted his resignation letter effective Feb. 3, saying he intended to retire from the agency he has headed since it was transferred to the Homeland Security Department in 2003.

“I am proud of the men and women of the FAMS and salute you for your dedication and performance in fulfilling our mission,” Thomas Quinn said in a memo issued just after 6 p.m.

“The leadership provided by the management team in the FAMS field offices, divisions, and headquarters has been exemplary. I leave knowing that the Federal Air Marshal Service is an effective, competent Federal Law Enforcement Organization that will continue to be an important contributor to the security of the homeland. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you, this country, and this President,” Mr. Quinn said.

Mr. Quinn was appointed to lead the agency after the September 11 terrorist attacks. He increased the marshal strength from 33 agents to more than 2,000.

“He is going to start enjoying life,” said Dave Adams, the agency spokesman, noting the director’s fondness for motorcycles.

“Start enjoying life?” One of Quinn’s problems was that he enjoyed his position at FAMS way too much.

Quinn pal Lyle Lovett, the country singer, yukking it up at the FAMS secret training center at Quinn’s invitation

Meanwhile, rank-and-file employees grappled with stupid policies, limited resources, and a dissent-crushing crackdown on public criticism of Quinn’s security-undermining decisions. As Audrey Hudson notes:

More than a dozen marshals were investigated or punished for speaking out against policies they said endangered themselves and the flying public. Those marshals included Don Strange, the agent in charge of the Atlanta field office, who was fired for refusing to enforce the dress code.

Marshals said the dress code made them conspicuous. Congressional pressure forced the agency to relax the code last year along with a hotel policy that left the agents vulnerable.

The agency also was criticized for grounding agents nationwide on the eve of President Bush’s inauguration last year because of 1 inch of snow in the D.C. area.

Morale remains low and marshals continue to abandon the service for other homeland security positions. I don’t know about you, but I have severely lowered my expectations that the position will be filled by a competent individual with proven leadership abilities. Can Miers-Brown-Myers Syndrome be overcome? For the sake of the marshals who put their lives on the line every day, let’s pray.

***

Previous:

Mayhem at Miami airport
Air marshals win one
Shakeup at DHS, Pt II
The air marshal and the ACLU
Still flying blind
Aviation security gaps
The air marshals’ mess: Code Red
Another fine air marshals’ mess
Update on the air marshals
Another air marshal outrage
A mystery in the skies
Dressed for failure
Air rage, Pt II
Air rage
The “kill-me-first dress code”

comments (0)   trackbacks (3)