Are air marshals trained properly?
Air marshals must attend a training course in Atlantic City, N.J. They study behavioral observation, intimidation tactics and how to use self-defense in close quarters, such as an airplane. No serious questions have been raised about the actions of the air marshals who killed the passenger last week. “From what we know, the team of air marshals acted in a way that is consistent with the training that they have received,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters. However, some aviation safety experts question the kind of training that air marshals receive, especially as it has undergone such rapid changes since Sept. 11. “There’s a lot of stuff that they really never had the time to think through, so they’re always trying to tweak it. When you do that, it can cause confusion, morale problems, and some people lose faith in the system,” Rich Gritta, an aviation expert at the University of Portland in Oregon, told the Christian Science Monitor.
