GAO faults results of anti-terror training

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The Federal Air Marshal Service fell short in its effort to cross-train other federal agents to help combat terror attacks, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

The report released last week also said the September 2003 goal to develop a "surge capacity" was abandoned by October 2004, with only limited cross-training of immigration and customs officials.

Congress directed the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) to increase its pre-9/11 capacity of 33 agents to 5,000 when it was folded into the new Department of Homeland Security.

The air marshal service initially operated within the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and then was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) so those agents could be cross-trained in support of the air security effort.

The GAO report says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "made limited progress in achieving the intended objectives" of "developing a surge capacity through cross-training ICE agents."

"Between December 2003 and October 2004 a number of ICE agents received cross-training in the skills necessary to supplement federal air marshals during a heightened threat level," the GAO report said.

Homeland Security officials had praised the cross-training initiative before numerous congressional panels as late as August 2004. Upon closer review, however, the House Appropriations Committee found the program "ineffective."

"The Committee further suggested that the training of ICE agents to serve as federal air marshals in a surge capacity be discontinued. In response, DHS suspended its cross-training efforts at that time," the GAO report said.

"ICE later stated that it would continue to support the surge effort but had not determined whether and when it would resume cross-training to support this initiative," the report said.

The air marshal service was transferred back to TSA in October and the report said it is "unclear" whether cross-training will continue.

The report also said that mission-related incidents "that affect air marshals' ability to operate discretely" are not adequately addressed, tracked, or recorded.

In its response, FAMS said it has since established a new policy to report and track incidents that expose undercover agents to airline passengers.