Air Marshal, a Critic of Bosses, Is Grounded

The leader of an air marshal group that has strongly criticized the management of the Federal Air Marshal Service has been relieved of duty and placed under investigation in what the organization says is an act of retaliation.

The disciplinary action comes as the House Judiciary Committee is pressing an inquiry into allegations by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Assn. that agency policies -- including a button-down dress code -- had compromised the air marshals’ undercover status.

A spokesman for the service said Thursday that the action against air marshal Frank Terreri was not intended to silence critics, but came in response to alleged misconduct. The spokesman, David M. Adams, would not comment on the details of the complaint against Terreri, who heads the air marshals unit of the law officers association.

“The action taken is based on a specific incident,” Adams said. “Our action was not an ad hoc retaliatory action, but rather a routine procedure that was consistent with policy.”

Relations between the air marshal service and the law officers association have deteriorated in recent weeks. On Oct. 7, the association called on Thomas D. Quinn, the director of the air marshal service, to resign.

Terreri, who lives in Southern California, was placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday and barred from flying on missions. He has had to surrender his gun, badge and other equipment. He would not comment about his situation, but another official of the group called the disciplinary action a “witch hunt.”

“It’s because the man spoke out on safety issues that they are trying to silence him,” said Jon Adler, a vice president of the law officers association. “The fact that they are trying to quash a voice that is expressing an opinion that is different from theirs is unconscionable.”

Adler is a criminal investigator with another federal agency.

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Assn. is a professional association representing 22,000 federal agents in more than 50 law enforcement agencies, including more than 1,400 marshals.

The association accuses the director of the air marshal service of pursuing policies that endanger public safety by making it easy for terrorists to potentially identify marshals.

The marshal service describes the critics as a disgruntled minority.

Adler said the case against Terreri apparently stemmed from an e-mail Terreri sent to other air marshals Wednesday. In it he criticized a story about another air marshal in the current issue of People magazine.

The article is a first-person account by “Becky” of a day in the life of an air marshal. She identifies herself as a former police officer and military veteran who signed up with the marshals out of patriotism after the Sept. 11 attacks.

She described martial arts techniques she would use against an attacker, some steps she took to monitor passengers on a flight and the kind of pistol she carried. She also said she stopped in the restroom before a flight to make sure her weapon was concealed.

Calling Becky “a sellout,” Terreri complained in the e-mail that she had compromised security by publicizing operational details. He singled out her comment about stopping in the restroom to check on her gun.

“I’ll be on the lookout for her in one of our friendly airports, probably as she is entering the restroom to ensure her Sig Sauer .357 semiautomatic is concealed,” Terreri wrote.

That language, Adler said, has apparently been misinterpreted as a veiled threat.

“He was being facetious,” Adler said of Terreri. “When you leave the house, you should make sure your weapon is concealed.”