Security official draws a crowd in Sisters

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has come under fire lately, with grandmas claiming they were strip-searched at the airport.

TSA official Michael T. Irwin jumped on that allegation at the top of a talk with a Sisters audience last week: "TSA does not do strip searches. It is illegal for us to do that! If someone did that they should and would be fired." (TSA has apologized to one woman, while denying the allegations.)

Irwin is a native Oregonian who was tapped to head the Oregon district of the TSA in 2005. He was invited by Sisters Kiwanis to give a glimpse of the operations of one of the nation's front-line security agencies. He spoke at Sisters Fire Hall on Thursday evening.

The audience seemed far more interested in the fact that on September 11, 2001, Irwin was serving as director of operations for the White House Military Office. In this position he was responsible for some 2,500 mixed-service military personnel. Their job was to move the President, safely and securely.

"We don't move the President, we move the Presidency," said Irwin. "Presidents that go 'off-script' are not appreciated, by the White House Military Office or by the Secret Service; they put the Presidency at risk. The President is not in control of his own movements. It is an incredibly complicated thing when you move the President around."

Irwin shared intriguing slides and first-hand accounts of his command-and-control operation in the basement of the White House on 9/11, trying to work out the logistics of where the President should go and how he should get there. Appearing in those pictures were Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Scooter Libby, and Karen Hughes, among others.

With 25 years in the Air Force as a command pilot with 5,000 flight hours in heavy aircraft, then Colonel Irwin was uniquely qualified to oversee the basement operations. They were charged with getting the president from place to place.

"When we move the president, everything is redundant, at least one deep," Irwin explained. "There are two Air Force Ones, plus pairs of support and security aircraft, pairs of helicopters, pairs of communications systems, and pairs of presidential limos."

These are all part of any move.

For example, when President Bush visited Africa, 132 aircraft moved to Africa with him. There are over 800 people in the air wing of the White House Military Office alone, and another 800 in the helicopter wing.

As a direct result of the 9/11 attacks, the Transportation Security Agency was formed just a month after 9/11, as part of the new Homeland Security Department. In the next 10 months, the fledgling TSA hired and trained 57,000 employees.

"Did we make some mistakes? You bet!" said Irwin. "When you hire that many people that quickly, without any systems in place, you are going to make mistakes."

Irwin's history of heavy aircraft command, and his unique first-hand experience with the 9/11 attacks, made him a prime candidate for a position in TSA. He joined the organization in 2002 with postings at the San Francisco airport and in Washington, D.C. before he was tapped for the Oregon TSA directorship.

"Everybody has an impression of TSA, and a lot of it is negative. We are the ones that come between you and a great relaxing flight," said Irwin. "I'm a fan of downsizing the federal government, including the TSA, because I think that forces us to be more efficient."

Balancing security and respectful treatment of travelers is a constant challenge.

"How you treat people is important," said Irwin. "When I see things in the press about TSA, I don't think it is about people making a judgment about they don't want airplanes to blow up. Customer service is the biggest thing. People don't like to be touched. People just want to be treated with respect."

Irwin continued, "When people come through airports they are all under pressure, and a lot of that comes out at the checkpoint when people are invading your personal space and people are going through your underwear, it is not a comfortable thing."

Irwin reports that TSA is deploying behavior detection officers in the crowd in front of the checkpoints, based on the Israeli airport model. They are looking for certain behaviors that would be cause for agents to do a more complete check. TSA's goal is not to have to screen everyone at the same level of thoroughness. As a first step, they are working to get automated scanning devices in all airports. Soon there will be no inspection for frequent flyers that have passed a background check, and no inspection for airline crews. In most locations, there is no longer a need to take off your shoes.

Besides frequent visits to the Redmond airport as part of his job, Irwin has other ties to Central Oregon. Irwin's wife is also an Oregonian. Her parents lived in Bend while she was in college in Portland. She, too, is a retired Air Force officer. The couple also spends a lot of time in and around Sisters because Michael's sister is Sisters' own Kellie Landers, until recently owner/operator of the Groomingdales dog grooming service in Sisters.