GAO says DHS air marshal program efforts floundering

One of the first priorities of the administration after 9/11 was to expand the Federal Air Marshal Service in order to increase security aboard airlines. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) has just published a detailed study saying that the administration’s efforts to increase the number of agents available to assist during heightened threat situations are floundering. The GAO concluded that DHS failed to meet the goals it set itself since the marshal program became part of DHS nearly two years ago. “[The department] made limited progress in achieving its stated objectives to develop a surge capacity through cross-training ICE agents and to enhance federal air marshals’ career opportunities,” the report says.

-read more in the GAO report