Troops Posted at LAX, S.F. Airport

Gun-toting, uniformed troops, a sight familiar to travelers at many airports elsewhere in the world, became a part of the California travel scene Friday.

National Guard members carrying M-16 rifles took up positions at Los Angeles International and San Francisco International airports--creating a striking new martial presence, even though their rifles were not loaded.

Gov. Gray Davis was at LAX to hail the deployment, which he said will “keep the peace and give the public peace of mind.”

An order by President Bush has led to the posting of other Guard contingents at airports across the nation.

Some travelers said they were reassured by the sight, though others regarded the troops’ presence as more for show than to truly help screen out potential terrorists.

Guard members began their duty about noon in the LAX terminals, taking positions next to metal detectors and escalators at security checkpoints. They carried standard-issue M-16 rifles but kept their ammunition magazines out of the weapons.

Capt. Tela Tisor, a Guard spokesperson, said keeping the guns unloaded is a common safety precaution, taken in this case on orders of the Federal Aviation Administration, which is overseeing the Guard deployment.

“We’re not so much a military force as an extra set of eyes and ears for security,” Tisor said.

Guard officials had said Thursday that the M-16s would be loaded.

Passengers at LAX said they accepted the arrival of the troops, as incongruous as it seemed to some for camouflage-clad squads to be patrolling an American airport.

“A lot of people are concerned about hindering freedom, but if you’re too afraid to go anywhere, that hinders freedom too,” said Dawn Lawrence, 25, of Mission Viejo. She waited in line at the United Airlines terminal as her son Daniel, 1, sat in his stroller, playing with a plastic lid.

Lawrence, who was on her way to Seattle, said she would have made the trip whether or not the Guard was there, but she welcomed the troops nevertheless.

The young mother had become more accustomed to seeing soldiers in airports in places like Argentina, Romania and Guatemala, where she and her husband have traveled on church missions.

Michelle Yuan, a 25-year-old accountant returning to Denver after a business trip to Los Angeles, said she is also used to seeing soldiers in airports.

“I’m from China, and we see the military a lot. Americans care about freedom, but we need to find a way between freedom and safety, and I weigh safety more.”

In the same line, about 100 yards from where two Guard members stood, Chicago salesman Harold Sullivan said the troops were merely “cosmetic.”

He thinks terrorists will pick a different target in their next attack, and that if Guard troops must be stationed at LAX, they ought to be posted in front of terminals so passenger drop-offs from private cars could resume. Travelers can now arrive at terminals only in buses, taxis, limousines or airport shuttles.

Another frequent flier, Paul Lyman of Dallas, said he would prefer to see a more intense examination of baggage destined for cargo holds.

“I’ve probably flown more than 20 times since Sept. 11, and the only place where baggage was getting inspected was St. Louis,” he said.

Besides LAX and San Francisco International, nine other California airports will be patrolled by Guard troops next week, and 30 more will have a troop presence in two weeks, Davis said.

Travelers at the San Francisco airport also seemed to be taking the Guard presence in stride. In the international terminal alone, at least 20 Guardsmen marched in loose formation toward their posts at a baggage-screening checkpoint.

“It makes me feel more secure. It doesn’t bother me at all,” said Paul Rafalowski, who was visiting the Bay Area from Chicago. “It’s all good.”

A businessman from England was more startled by the appearance of the uniformed troops.

“I was quite shocked,” said Chris Walsh of Sheffield. “It reminds you of going into Belfast.”

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Times staff writer Robert Durell contributed to this report.