Air Marshal

[intheaircop]

The rumor is the FAM service will be hiring soon. So keep looking on the USA jobs web site. They are hurting for people. They need people to fill the NY , Detriot, Chicago, and DC filed offices.

[tunlrat]

Will it be open to the public or only current ICE employees?

[Joeyd6]

I heard this opening may be to the public...but again rumors from a FAM I met.

[intheaircop]

From what the SAC in my field office says is that it will open to the public. But if it does the new hires will not have an option to go to any field office they want. The most needed field offices are the DC, Chicago, NY, and I think Detriot.
As far as me staying here for 17 more years as a FAM, well, it is not going to happen. I have 2 more semesters of college to complete and then I am out of here. This is the best job to complete an education because of all the down time. I did have to find a fully online college.

[brianlar13]

Any idea when the FAMS may open the announcement to the public?

[intheaircop]

I wish I could tell you. But I hope it is soon because we need people. We are down about 60 people in my field office since I started. We lose about 2 people a month to other jobs. If they do hire the academy will be about 8 weeks at New Mexico and then 3 weeks in New Jersey. The school is not that hard. The tests are real easy as long as you study. We only lost one guy in my class and it was because he could not shoot. I am not going to lie to you. You do not need a college degree to be an Air Marshal. I am not one of those guys who thinks that the Air Marshals are some sort of secret agent man. I am not a day dreamer and see it as it is. We are here to make sure the civilian avation sector stays afloat and also to stop a hijacking(1%). The job is so boring but I am getting to finish my degree and have a little over a year untill I am done and I can't wait, beacause I also want to move on to a better job. I have never had so much down time to finish my degree and that is the best thing about this job I think. I read and study while I am in flight and then do my online requirements when I am in a hotel. SO thank you Air Marshal Service for paying me while I am furthering my education.

[sbrad]

I wish I could tell you. But I hope it is soon because we need people. We are down about 60 people in my field office since I started. We lose about 2 people a month to other jobs. If they do hire the academy will be about 8 weeks at New Mexico and then 3 weeks in New Jersey. The school is not that hard. The tests are real easy as long as you study. We only lost one guy in my class and it was because he could not shoot. I am not going to lie to you. You do not need a college degree to be an Air Marshal. I am not one of those guys who thinks that the Air Marshals are some sort of secret agent man. I am not a day dreamer and see it as it is. We are here to make sure the civilian avation sector stays afloat and also to stop a hijacking(1%). The job is so boring but I am getting to finish my degree and have a little over a year untill I am done and I can't wait, beacause I also want to move on to a better job. I have never had so much down time to finish my degree and that is the best thing about this job I think. I read and study while I am in flight and then do my online requirements when I am in a hotel. SO thank you Air Marshal Service for paying me while I am furthering my education.

Just curious what the pay is like?

[Switchback]

Brad,
The pay is exremely good. They pay on a according to a band scale, basedon experience.

I know guys that went there and are making a killing, leaving behind a variety of federal agencies. The problem is, I do not know of anyone that is really happy with the job. I know of 2 marshals that have returned from the FAMs, several that are trying to get back, and a ton of unhappy FAMs. It's based on the working conditions, as well as some internal strife that has brought down morale. I think much of this will pass with some time. Most of the problems can be attributed to growing pains. In a couple years, itmay bea lot better, but I would be hard pressed to reccommend the job to a friend.

[intheaircop]

I agrree with SWTCHBACK. The job is a pain in my rear and I do not like it much but like I said before , it is the perfect job to finish college. The pay is really great. I am at the bottom of the I band (GS12/13) and it is about $80,000 a year. So yes this is the most cash I have every made and I have little to do while I am at work. As long as none of the passengers act up and the plane does not crash, I have lots of time on my hands. I do a little reading for school, read the newspaper and watch lots and I mean lots of DVDs. Morale is very low here. It seems like the managment is allways just sitting around just trying to make our day harder(dresscode, hotel stays etc.) But I can't complain to much because of the money I am making to do nothing.

[ofcrsouth]

intheaircop,

I'm a municipal cop from WI. I'm exploring my options for doing something different than my current job. I have a bunch of questions about being an air marshal- I'm not sure how many you can answer or not, but here are a few of the ones that I wonder about the most.

I have heard that the shooting qualifications for Air Marshals are the hardest in law enforcement- that you have to be a veritable sniper to pass the test. I have also heard that the FAMS has now dropped this shooting requirement. Which is true?

I have heard that in some duty offices, marshals fly 6 days on with only 2 days off, and at the same time, in other offices, marshals only fly 4 days on with 3 off. Which is true? Or are the days spent on duty different for each office?

As a marshal, do you fly only domestic, or also international flights?

You said the academy was in New Mexico? You don't get trained at FLETC in Glynco? Is it like a basic federal police academy, or is it more specialized?

You're allowed to read on the flights? I had heard that you're not allowed to read or do anything distracting like that?

What kind of background do you have to have to get hired? Just prior L.E. or do you have to have federal experience?

Do you get to pick your duty station? Is there a Minneapolis station?

Hope you can answer some of my questions, at least. If you don't want to post the answers on this forum, please e-mail me at webmaster@sturgeonbaypolice.com

Thanks!

[klaginess]

intheaircop,

I'm a municipal cop from WI. I'm exploring my options for doing something different than my current job. I have a bunch of questions about being an air marshal- I'm not sure how many you can answer or not, but here are a few of the ones that I wonder about the most.

I have heard that the shooting qualifications for Air Marshals are the hardest in law enforcement- that you have to be a veritable sniper to pass the test. I have also heard that the FAMS has now dropped this shooting requirement. Which is true?

I have heard that in some duty offices, marshals fly 6 days on with only 2 days off, and at the same time, in other offices, marshals only fly 4 days on with 3 off. Which is true? Or are the days spent on duty different for each office?

As a marshal, do you fly only domestic, or also international flights?

You said the academy was in New Mexico? You don't get trained at FLETC in Glynco? Is it like a basic federal police academy, or is it more specialized?

You're allowed to read on the flights? I had heard that you're not allowed to read or do anything distracting like that?

What kind of background do you have to have to get hired? Just prior L.E. or do you have to have federal experience?

Do you get to pick your duty station? Is there a Minneapolis station?

Hope you can answer some of my questions, at least. If you don't want to post the answers on this forum, please e-mail me at webmaster@sturgeonbaypolice.com

Thanks!

These are good questions, I also am curious about the same things, if you aren't posting the answers online, could you email me at kpelkey@ameritech.net
Plus if they are posting the job openings where would they post them?
Thanks,
Katie

[txinvestigator1]

What are the minimum requirements? :rubchin: .....

[intheaircop]

I will try to answer some of the questions. Most of the guys I work with are all prior law enforcement officers(local,feds). We do have a small hand of guys who are from the military with no civilian law enforcement at all.

1) The firearms portion of our training is the hardest in any other federal agency but it is no were as hard as it used to be. Let me explain. Before 9-11 the original 33 Air MArshals had a firearms test called the TPC (tactical pistol coarse) I am not going to lie to you, the TPC was VERY hard. When I got to the academy we did fire the TPC but it was no longer required to keep your job because more than half of the people who fired it failed. The new hires had 3 trys to pass the TPC or you were sent home. It took me 3 times to pass the TPC. They got rid of it and later came up with the ATPC(aircraft tactical pistol coarse). Now this is hard but no that hard. I passed it with a 100%. So the answer to your question is it is harder than all the other feds but not that much harder and no were as hard as it used to be befroe 9-11.

2) The Air Marshal training is held in Artesia, NM. It is a smaller training facility and they have 3 full size aircraft for us and that is why they hold the training there instead of Glynco, GA. After the new hires finish the training there then they go to Atlantic City, NJ for 3 more weeks of training. In all it is all about 10 weeks and if you listen and shoot good, anyone can make it.

3) I can only speak about the work week at my field office, but I can say this: No one works 4 on and 3 off. We used to do this but they put a stop to it agency wide. We work 5 on and 2 off. about 45 - 50 hours a week.

I don't sugar coat this job like some of the guys I work with who think they are some sort of secret agent men. I see it as a plain clothes police officer onboard a commercial aircraft. We do not do any investigations at all. If we do have to make an arrest it is passed on to the FBI for them to investigate it. We are not 1811's. We are 1801's.
I have read this over and over again to make sure I did not release any information that was sensitive. Now if you wanted to know how many FAMs there are, how they get on the aircraft without the passengers knowing, what knid of stuff they carry, how many FAMs on a flight, how do they dress, what hotels do they stay in, were do they sit on the plane etc, WELL I CAN NOT PUT THAT OUT. If you really wanted to get some good information on the Air Marshal service just do a search on MSNBC or CNN web sites. You will see all kinds of information on the service.

[Switchback]

intheaircop,

I have heard that the shooting qualifications for Air Marshals are the hardest in law enforcement- that you have to be a veritable sniper to pass the test. I have also heard that the FAMS has now dropped this shooting requirement. Which is true?

I have heard that in some duty offices, marshals fly 6 days on with only 2 days off, and at the same time, in other offices, marshals only fly 4 days on with 3 off. Which is true? Or are the days spent on duty different for each office?

As a marshal, do you fly only domestic, or also international flights?

You said the academy was in New Mexico? You don't get trained at FLETC in Glynco? Is it like a basic federal police academy, or is it more specialized?

You're allowed to read on the flights? I had heard that you're not allowed to read or do anything distracting like that?

What kind of background do you have to have to get hired? Just prior L.E. or do you have to have federal experience?

Do you get to pick your duty station? Is there a Minneapolis station?

Hope you can answer some of my questions, at least. If you don't want to post the answers on this forum, please e-mail me at webmaster@sturgeonbaypolice.com

Thanks!

The shooting requirements are not unusually difficult. You, by no means need to be a "veritable sniper."

As I understand things, your schedule can be rather dynamic. However, the guys I know do have their ours scheduled out for some time, to minimize surprises.

I believe they fly both domestic and international. I am not real sure about the internationals... probably rather limited.

I think the academy is in New Mexico and Atlantic City. I know some guys that went only to Atlantic CIty.

I don't know about the reading on flights.

The background can be very diverse. I know some guys w/o LE experience. I know others that were local cops, COs as well as several from a variety of federal agencies. It runs the gambit!

I am not sure how much you get to pick your station. I know you are notified of your duty location prior to having to accept the job.

[ofcrsouth]

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate them. intheaircop, do you work with any security people from the airlines at all? This is another area that I have been thinking about for a career option- non-sworn security managment at an airline. I'm wondering if you do have any contact with airline security personnel like investigators, ground security coordinators, etc... at all?