Airports get 'field marshals' for security By Blake Morrison, USA TODAY WASHINGTON =97 Former Los Angeles police chief Willie Williams and a retired= =20 Navy rear admiral will take charge of security at the nation's two busiest= =20 airports, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced Wednesday.=20 Williams, who ran the Los Angeles Police Department from 1992 to 1997, will= =20 oversee security at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. Isaac=20 Richardson, former commanding officer of the nuclear-powered aircraft=20 carrier USS Nimitz, will handle Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The= =20 two were among eight new federal security directors introduced by Mineta,=20 who called their appointments "historic moments in a year of historic=20 moments." "This team that you see before us will be working together to=20 keep our skies safe," Mineta said at Ronald Reagan Washington National=20 Airport. "And at a time when many of them could've turned to a 9-to-5 desk= =20 job with a lot less stress ... they have chosen to serve their country." Congress created the security director posts after the terrorist attacks of= =20 Sept. 11. The jobs put a single federal official in charge of security at=20 each commercial airport nationwide. The directors will oversee screening,=20 coordinate with federal, state and local law enforcement, and decide=20 whether to evacuate or shut down airports in the event of a security=20 threat. Perhaps more important, they will answer directly to the=20 Transportation Department's undersecretary for security, John Magaw. The=20 first wave of hires reflects Magaw's commitment to creating a law=20 enforcement agency akin to those he ran before taking charge of the new=20 Transportation Security Administration. Magaw has led the Bureau of=20 Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the Secret Service. Although two of= =20 the new security directors have direct experience in aviation security,=20 four worked for the Secret Service. Mineta called the new directors "field marshals" who will "need a hands-on= =20 approach to make sure that changes in security are working and that=20 passengers are being treated with respect." Initially, security directors=20 will be hired for the 81 largest U.S. airports. Officials say they aren't=20 certain how many more will be hired because some directors might have=20 responsibility for security at more than one of the nation's 429 commercial= =20 airports. Salaries for the job range from $104,800 to $150,000. Officials=20 say they have received about 9,500 applications. The others hired, and the airports they will oversee: =B7 Mike Aguilar, San Diego International. The retired Marine Corps=20 brigadier general served as deputy commander of U.S. Marine Forces South in= =20 Miami and commanding general of Fleet Marine Forces South. =B7 Arnold Cole, Baltimore-Washington International. Cole has worked= as=20 a special agent with the ATF and with the Secret Service. =B7 Marcia Florian, Phoenix Sky Harbor International. Florian served= 27=20 years on the Phoenix Police Department and developed and led the=20 department's airport bureau. =B7 Gail Linkins, Mobile (Ala.) Regional. A 20-year veteran of the=20 Secret Service, Linkins has helped protect the vice president. =B7 William Pickle, Denver International. A 25-year veteran of the=20 Secret Service, Pickle served as the special agent in charge of the Vice=20 Presidential Protective Division. =B7 Anthony Zotto, Reagan National. The longtime Secret Service agent= =20 currently serves on Vice President Cheney's security detail. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca yahoo email: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBSC Group on Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribsocabrass CBSC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ ******************************************************* Steel Expressions Orch http://www.escape.ca/~ejames/se/ email #1: mailto:steelexpressions@yahoo.com email #2: mailto:steelexpressions@home.com ******************************************************* The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TCL) http://www.tclgroup.com/ (TCL Group of Companies) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://195.224.187.36/ *********************************************************