When was the last time you saw an armed soldier working security at a US airport?

[Chessic Sense]

In the Pit, I've accused posters of being hyperbolic with their descriptions of airport security. Particularly here (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12043702&postcount=47):
This prank could have easily resulted in her death if she reacted the wrong way. The armed and armored soldiers standing post at airports are not for decoration. You expect us to take comfort in the fact that TSA agents don't have as much power as we think they have?

I've never seen a soldier doing security in an airport. The only time I've ever seen a soldier with a weapon, they were traveling like other passengers. And the time before that, it was my unit. But we never actually went into the airport. We drove from the parking lot to the terminal, specifically to avoid being seen by the public. Taking a quick, nonscientific office poll, it doesn't seem like anyone has ever seen this either. If this has ever happened (and I'm sure it has), it had to be years ago. Most likely directly after 9/11. And perhaps only in a few airports.

So, how long's it been since you've seen a soldier working security in a US airport, and which airport was it?

[Anaamika]

Never.

But admittedly, I don't fly a lot, and when I do, it's usually out of Albany International. If Albany needs to be protected with armed guards...we got bigger troubles.

[muldoonthief]

8 years ago, about 6 months after 9/11, out of Logan. Camo + M-16 made me think soldier, not cop. Most likely Nat. Guard though - he looked a little long in the tooth for active duty.

[Clark Cello]

In late 2001/early 2002 there were soldiers with rifles at John Wayne International in Orange County, CA.

[Dinsdale]

You think the distinction between soldiers and riot-gear clad cops terribly distinctive?

I cannot recall with specificity having seen uniformed, armed soldiers. If I ever did, it was way back soon after 9/11.

But I see rifle-toting jack-booted cops all the time.

[Chessic Sense]

You think the distinction between soldiers and riot-gear clad cops terribly distinctive?

Yes. Yes, I do.

[Elendil's Heir]

I flew into Charleston, S.C. a few weeks after 9-11-01, and there were South Carolina National Guardsmen toting M-16s in the airport. Never since then.

We visited Washington, D.C. this past summer, though, and there was a security officer dressed entirely in black standing on the east steps of the U.S. Capitol. I didn't see any badges, but assume he was with the Capitol Police. He had an M4. I have to say, I didn't like seeing a weapon so openly brandished there - not a very welcoming image for "the people's house."

[Really Not All That Bright]

So, how long's it been since you've seen a soldier working security in a US airport, and which airport was it?
I haven't actually been inside an airport in three years (I've been to three of them in that period to pick up friends), but I worked at Orlando International Airport (on the pre-security side) from January-May 2007. I saw at least one armed and on-duty soldier pretty much every day during that period.

Of course, since there were 260 National Guardsmen on long-term assignment there, this is not particularly surprising.

ETA: I just realized I flew into Dulles in December '08, and I'm almost certain there were armed soldiers there too.

[Superfluous Parentheses]

Seen plenty of MPs doing security work with machine guns at the ready on and around Schiphol airport at least since 1999 or so. Spotted two a week ago. They tend to keep back.

ETA: oops, US airport. Then, no: I've never been in the US.

[Really Not All That Bright]

We visited Washington, D.C. this past summer, though, and there was a security officer dressed entirely in black standing on the east steps of the U.S. Capitol. I didn't see any badges, but assume he was with the Capitol Police. He had an M4. I have to say, I didn't like seeing a weapon so openly brandished there - not a very welcoming image for "the people's house."
There were two on the Capitol steps when I was there in '08 carrying (Barrett, I think) sniper rifles. They were wearing insignias at the waist, though. One posed for a picture with us! :cool:

They were putting up the bleacher/stand things for the inauguration ceremony at the time, and Congress was in session, but it was still odd.

[msmith537]

There are constantly armed National Guardsmen in Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal. And I'm pretty sure I've seen them at Newark. They aren't in full battle gear or anything. Usually they just seem to be standing around in little clumps with their sidearms holstered.

I flew into Atlanta a few months ago and the airport was full of soldiers. But most of them appeared to be travelling to or from somewhere.

On a completely unrelated topic, do soldiers not travel wearing dress uniforms anymore?

[Dinsdale]

Yes. Yes, I do.

Why?

[Jack Batty]

I went with 8 years, but I don't fly too often ... I think I've taken one flight since then.

It was 3 months after 9/11 and I got the full show. I had forgotten to grab my wallet and ID and keys and everything from the little tray you put your shit in to go through the metal detectors. I'd only figured out that I left my stuff there once I got to my gate. So I went running back through the terminal to get my stuff before they shipped it off to lost and found.

"HALT!"

Weapons, not pointed, but brandished. I was dragged aside and jacked up against the wall for the full on frisking. They were surprisingly gentle when they cupped my sack -- I'll give that to them.

Anyway, I got stuck at the check point for about a half an hour. In the end, they bought my story and let me go and I didn't miss my flight. But for a minute there, I thought I was going to get a round between the eyes.

This was all at SFO.

[Baracus]

Never.

But admittedly, I don't fly a lot, and when I do, it's usually out of Albany International. If Albany needs to be protected with armed guards...we got bigger troubles.
Weird. The only time I can definitively recall armed guards in an airport was flying out of Albany three weeks after 9/11. I feel like I have seen them since, but I can't say for sure.

[Really Not All That Bright]

On a completely unrelated topic, do soldiers not travel wearing dress uniforms anymore?
No, just BDUs.

[tdn]

I voted 1 year only because there was no option for "Just last month." But now I'm wondering. I did see soldiers at JFK, but I don't think that they were working the actual security station. I'm pretty sure that they had guns, but now I'm questioning my memory on that too.

The last true memory I had of soldiers brandishing weapons was in December of 2001.

[Simplicio]

Shortly after 9/11 there was some National Guard troops at the front of Burlington National Airport (Vermont) apparently manning some sort of rudiculously large vehicle mounted machine gun type thing aimed out at the parking-lot.

That was probably the silliest over-reaction I saw to 9/11, the idea that Osama Bin Laden was going to target Burlington Airport, and do it in such a way that heavy machine gun might stop him was pretty amusing. One pictures wave after wave of terrorists charging across the parking lot at the airport, only to be mowed down in a rain of bullets.

[Hello Again]

There are constantly armed National Guardsmen in Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal. And I'm pretty sure I've seen them at Newark. They aren't in full battle gear or anything. Usually they just seem to be standing around in little clumps with their sidearms holstered.

New York's Penn Station as well. They wear fatigues and I have seen them with rifles, but sidearms are more common. Penn is also patrolled by something-sniffing dogs (drugs? bombs?) that belong to the NYPD.

[NinetyWt]

That was probably the silliest over-reaction I saw to 9/11

Maybe they just saw a good excuse to get the big toys out and play with them. ;)

[Enginerd]

There were armed security personnel at the gate when I was flying about a month ago (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11932864&postcount=5). Like Dinsdale, I'm not sure there's a significant difference between soldiers and cops in this case. I suppose I'd expect the soldiers to be better trained.

[Ferret Herder]

I don't know if I've ever seen armed soldiers doing security detail at a US airport. I fly several times a year, and I really don't pay attention to that stuff; if I do notice it at the time, I forget about it later.

[pudytat72]

I saw an armed soldier at the TSA checkpoint December 21, 2009 in the Honolulu, Hawaii airport. He was standing in front of the escalators that went up to the gate area. He was definitely keeping an eye on the whole area.

[Hari Seldon]

I don't know if he was a soldier, but a guy in uniform with a submachine gun was patrolling Penn Station in NY on the morning of Jan. 5. There were guards examining luggage too. I avoided all the hassle by getting a redcap and went down to the platform by direct elevator.

[kunilou]

I've had soldiers in full uniform with sidearms inspect my car in St. Louis.

I also had the odd distinction of being in Washington Reagan National on the first anniversary of 9/11 and the airport was being guarded by every conceivable civilian and military organization in the greater DC area.

[pravnik]

Right after 9/11. When I was in Mexico City last March, there were heavily armed federal police nearly everywhere in the airports and the city center, toting Uzis, shotguns, etc.

[Chessic Sense]

Why?

Because police are everywhere. What they do in airports isn't any different than what they do patrolling the streets. Seeing soldiers in an airport would be an extreme measure of security. Seeing a police officer wouldn't be.

And I'm trying to bust the idea that in airports, there are extreme measures of security that people should be afraid of.

[Kyla]

I saw a whole...I don't know the proper term, but a bunch of National Guard people, with guns and dogs, at SFO in October 2001. It was startling and scary. I usually fly two-three times a year or so.

I've seen far more armed people in public places in Europe than in the US, actually. (Which makes it amusing when I see Europeans talking about how Americans love guns. The above instance is the only time I have EVER seen weapons in a public place in the US, police officers' holstered weapons excepted. But no one seems to bat an eye when hordes of military people wander around the Paris Metro with rifles.)

[GameHat]

I suspect most dopers will have an answer that is 2001, plus a few years maybe.

[Hello Again]

Because police are everywhere. What they do in airports isn't any different than what they do patrolling the streets. Seeing soldiers in an airport would be an extreme measure of security. Seeing a police officer wouldn't be.

Dinsdale said "police in riot gear" (ie armed with heavy weapons, helmets, body armour and black SWAT type uniforms). If you see those guys "everywhere" on your streets, I'd like to know where you live.

I don't think they are at all different from the Army or Nat'l Guard. Their presence implies an unusual and immediate danger; their presence is intentionally intimidating.

Aside from the Guardsmen & NYPD K9s I see daily in Penn Station, I have most recently seen armed soldiers patrolling in an airport last October.

[Dinsdale]

Dinsdale said "police in riot gear" (ie armed with heavy weapons, helmets, body armour and black SWAT type uniforms). If you see those guys "everywhere" on your streets, I'd like to know where you live.


What he said.

It really surprises me that you wouldn't see the distinction. That you failed to makes me question the sincerity of your remarks.