National Guard to Help With Airport Security

A range of measures to make U.S. skies safer was unveiled Thursday as President Bush made a high-profile visit to O’Hare International Airport, urging Americans to “get on board” the nation’s airlines and “enjoy life.”

Bush called for armed National Guard patrols at airports to quell the public’s fears about security. He authorized federal funding, estimated at $100 million to $150 million, for states whose governors choose to temporarily deploy the National Guard to augment security at commercial airports until his security program is fully implemented.

California Gov. Gray Davis said passengers might see members of the California National Guard training at airports as early as this weekend, with activation coming by Wednesday.

The Guard, Davis said, will receive several days of training from the Federal Aviation Administration. The training will include searching for weapons, reviewing baggage, conflict management and a variety of other activities.

Guard personnel will be armed and will supervise baggage checkpoints at an undetermined number of airports. The Guard call-up will last four to six months and is expected to be small--between 50 and 200 Guard members.

Bush’s upbeat appearance came as the military has significantly increased its air presence around the country, sources said. One hundred jet fighters are on constant alert at 26 locations nationwide, ready to fly within 10 minutes in an emergency. Previously, just 14 fighters were on “strip alert” at seven Air Force bases.

F-15 and F-16 fighters are on regular patrol over New York City and the Washington federal complex, and other fighter planes intermittently patrol other parts of the country.

The Pentagon also confirmed a major overhaul of the nation’s air defense system that gives two generals the authority to order the military to shoot down commercial airliners in “extraordinary circumstances” when people on the ground are endangered. The White House stressed that the two generals could give such orders only when the president or top-ranking generals cannot be reached.

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 have forced some major changes in the military air defense network. Previously, it had focused exclusively on incoming international traffic. Now it has broadened its mission to include thousands of daily domestic flights.

Col. Mike Perini, the chief spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, noted that to improve its surveillance of the U.S. interior, NORAD has moved some mobile radar units.

The command, which also includes the Canadian Air Force, has stepped up its electronic connections with the FAA so that the two are now in continuous communications and NORAD can gather information from the FAA on any domestic flights.

A military source said NORAD was also flying AWACS surveillance planes, which can track large numbers of aircraft simultaneously. Air patrols also are being used at major public events, such as National Football League games, the officer said.

As the changes were discussed at the Pentagon on Thursday, the FAA issued new guidance to noncommercial pilots intended to keep them from flying in airspace above sites such as nuclear plants, dams, refineries and industrial complexes.

But as Bush spoke at a rally on the O’Hare tarmac, debate rumbled among members of Congress over whether he is going far enough in using the government’s power to guarantee safety.

Senior Democrats said uniformed federal officers should perform passenger and baggage screening. They called for a $3-per-ticket fee to permanently finance a new air security service that would be similar to U.S. Customs. For his part, Bush is proposing higher standards and closer federal oversight for private guards hired by the airlines.

“We’re being offered half a loaf on this critical part of security on our airlines,” said Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.).

“This is a bedrock responsibility,” added Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.). “The most basic responsibility of government is to protect its citizens against acts of war.”

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is also calling for federal officers at security checkpoints, announced Thursday that Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn would head a new task force to lobby Congress and the administration on the issue.

As Davis arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to demonstrate the safety of flying, the challenge of reassuring Americans was underscored. Two Air Force F-16s escorted an Air Canada jumbo jet back to the airport after a man reportedly became disruptive after being caught smoking in a bathroom.

“Most travelers would like any measure they can get to ensure that any untoward incident won’t happen,” Davis said. “If the choice were no change or more security, I think everyone would choose more security.”

One key element of the president’s initiative is a significant and permanent expansion of the federal air marshals program. Armed plainclothes officers will be present, but unannounced, on many flights. Previously, marshals flew on only a handful of flights.

The president’s plan also calls for a $500-million fund to help airlines fortify cockpits against intruders and make other improvements. The money can be used to equip cockpits with video monitors to alert pilots of disturbances in the passenger cabin, “so our pilots will always be in command of the airplanes,” Bush said. Another change includes aircraft transponders--identification beacons--that cannot be switched off. Bush also called for research into remote devices that could allow a pilot on the ground to take control of an airliner from a hijacker.

Bush went to Chicago not only to announce the new security measures, but also to emphasize his message that Americans have a patriotic duty to return to their routines, even while they remain vigilant about safety.

Bush said his mission Thursday was “to tell the traveling public: Get on board. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America’s great destination spots. Get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life, the way we want it to be enjoyed.”

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, in another sign of a normality of sorts, voices of dissent were being raised.

Oberstar and DeFazio said the record of passenger screening by security companies hired by the airlines is so poor that the system needs to be scrapped altogether. As evidence, they pointed to volumes of critical reports by government auditors and investigators, and statistics indicating that most of the low-wage screeners stay on the job only a few months at most.

The Democrats said many of their GOP colleagues have privately expressed the same sentiments.

The lawmakers said they believe most passengers would find the $3-per-ticket security surcharge reasonable.

In the Democratic-controlled Senate, GOP staffers say a significant number of Republicans would probably also support the notion of government employees doing the screening. Sending an unmistakable political signal, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) qualified her assessment of Bush’s proposals.

In a statement, she called it “a strong first step in the right direction.” And she added: “We will continue to explore the best way to strengthen the federal role in security screening at airports.”

The U.S. air defense system was developed during the Cold War in response to the Soviet threat, and was focused on the possibility that bombers from the Soviet Union would attack the United States from overseas.

But the system had been scaled back steadily after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; the number of air bases with fighters on alert had decreased from more than 100 to seven in the past decade.

On Sept. 11, the system’s weaknesses became apparent when two F-15 fighters from Otis Air Force Base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts were unable to reach New York City in time to intercept the second airliner that crashed into the World Trade Center. F-16 fighters scrambling from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia had only two minutes after they were airborne to try to reach a third hijacked plane before it hit the Pentagon.

Maj. Gen. Paul Weaver, director of the Air National Guard, said the hijackings “have given a heightened awareness to everybody in the system, from NORAD to the FAA to the air crews. . . . It has caused everybody to be rethinking strategies.”

Pentagon officials went out of their way Thursday to stress that they intend to take every precaution regarding their new approach to off-course airliners, a policy that was first reported Thursday in the New York Times.

“Don’t get the impression that anyone is flying around that has a loose trigger finger,” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Henry Hugh Shelton told a Pentagon briefing. “The last thing in the world one of them wants to do is engage a commercial aircraft.”

Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, noted: “If the plane is nose-down and threatens the safety and security of the American people, that is the kind of situation we’re talking about.”

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Times staff writers Greg Miller and Jennifer Oldham contributed to this report.