I received this e-mail yesterday. It speaks for itself . . .
Comments from a Soldier and leader:> > > > > >
As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed > the following:> > When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram > Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no > groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.
> Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to > stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the > Indiana National Guard. That's where the stupid started.
> > First, everyone was forced to get off the plane-even though the plane > wasn't refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than > let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane > to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a > male/female latrine.
> > It's probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. > Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were > also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine > guns. Of course, the weapons weren't loaded. And we had been cleared > of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN > at customs.> The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload > all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it reinspected. > Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece > by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it > a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding > area, the TSA decided not to reinspect our Cargo-just to inspect us > again:> Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, > reinspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever.> So we lined up to go through security AGAIN. This is probably another > good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual > assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.
> > So we're in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had > his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it > gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a > pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier > that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation > went something like this:
> > TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.
> > Soldier: What? I've had them since we left the country.
> > TSA Guy: You're not suppose to have them.
> > Soldier: Why?
> > TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.
> > Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a > weapon and I'm allowed to take it on.
> > TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't > have bullets.
> > Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?
> > TSA Guy: [awkward silence]
> > Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the -*-* > out of here. I'll buy you a new set.
> > Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security] > To top it off, the TSA demanded we all be swabbed for "explosive > residue" detection. Everyone failed, [go figure, we just came home > from a war zone], because we tested positive for "Gun Powder Residue".
> Who the -*-* is hiring these people?
> > This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 > people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine > guns-but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.
Can someone > please tell me What the F**K happened to OUR country while we were gone?
Comments from a Soldier and leader:> > > > > >
As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from Afghanistan, I witnessed > the following:> > When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we flew out of Baghram > Air Field. We went through customs at BAF, full body scanners (no > groping), had all of our bags searched, the whole nine yards.
> Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After that, we had to > stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop off about 100 folks from the > Indiana National Guard. That's where the stupid started.
> > First, everyone was forced to get off the plane-even though the plane > wasn't refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane, rather than > let the 100 people from the ING get off. We were filed from the plane > to a holding area. No vending machines, no means of escape. Only a > male/female latrine.
> > It's probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying weapons. > Everyone was carrying an M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were > also carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B machine > guns. Of course, the weapons weren't loaded. And we had been cleared > of all ammo well before we even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN > at customs.> The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered making us unload > all of the baggage from the SECURE cargo hold to have it reinspected. > Keep in mind, this cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece > by U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing dogs give it > a one-hour run through. After two hours of sitting in this holding > area, the TSA decided not to reinspect our Cargo-just to inspect us > again:> Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already been inspected, > reinspected and kept in a SECURE holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever.> So we lined up to go through security AGAIN. This is probably another > good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual > assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.
> > So we're in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had > his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it > gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a > pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier > that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation > went something like this:
> > TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.
> > Soldier: What? I've had them since we left the country.
> > TSA Guy: You're not suppose to have them.
> > Soldier: Why?
> > TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.
> > Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this actually is a > weapon and I'm allowed to take it on.
> > TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't > have bullets.
> > Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?
> > TSA Guy: [awkward silence]
> > Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the -*-* > out of here. I'll buy you a new set.
> > Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security] > To top it off, the TSA demanded we all be swabbed for "explosive > residue" detection. Everyone failed, [go figure, we just came home > from a war zone], because we tested positive for "Gun Powder Residue".
> Who the -*-* is hiring these people?
> > This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 > people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine > guns-but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.
Can someone > please tell me What the F**K happened to OUR country while we were gone?
