National Guard expands role at airports

Responding to a call for better use of National Guard troops at airports, federal officials have broadened their duties to include patrolling airport perimeters and parking areas, the Transportation Department said Tuesday.

The lower-profile -- but possibly more productive -- duties were authorized by Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and will be performed in conjunction with keeping watch at passenger screening checkpoints. At the request of President Bush, thousands of National Guard troops were deployed at the checkpoints to help restore public confidence in air travel after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

At Los Angeles International Airport, officials said they want to use the troops to guard facilities such as the control tower and to patrol access roads. But airport police Chief Bernard Wilson said he is trying to clarify how much authority the airport will have in reassigning the soldiers. A spokesman for Mineta said such details would have to be worked out among the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Guard.

According to a Transportation Department memo, airports must maintain “adequate security personnel” at passenger checkpoints if they choose to move the troops elsewhere.

A Transportation Department spokesman said that although the new policy grants airports leeway in how to use the National Guard, it does not provide additional federal funding for more troops. “There’s no increase in money,” the spokesman said. “It just authorizes flexibility.”

Critics who believe U.S. aviation security is still too lax said the added flexibility for airports is a positive development.

Brian Sullivan, a retired FAA special agent who has complained to Congress about security shortcomings, said troops are better suited for patrol and surveillance than for monitoring airport screeners.

“The Guard being assigned to passenger screening checkpoints gives the traveling public a warm, comfy feeling, but there are other missions that address security problems more in depth,” Sullivan said.

Perimeter patrols “are less visible, but they enhance security more,” he added.

The American Association of Airport Executives, which represents airport management and lobbied for the change, would like the Guard to take on an even broader role. Carter Morris, a vice president of the group, said troops should also be used within the airport perimeter to guard parked aircraft and baggage facilities.

“The Guard may be more important in activities that involve surveillance” than at passenger checkpoints, Morris said. Troops are expected to be deployed at the nation’s airports for up to six months.