National Guardsmen To Be On Duty At Lambert Airport
MidAmerica St. Louis Airport Plans Not Known Yet
Belleville, Illinois (September 29, 2001) -- Travelers at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will see National Guard personnel on duty there late next week, according to a spokesman for Missouri Gov. Bob Holden.
But it isn't known yet whether guardsmen will be on duty at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport yet. In a news conference Thursday in Springfield, Maj. Gen. David Harris, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, said at least 100 National Guard personnel will be sent to 11 airports across the state, but did not name the airports.
A spokesman at MidAmerica said Thursday afternoon the airport had not received any information about whether it would receive guard personnel, or how many.
Asked which units might be called up, Lt. Col. Larry Andrews, public affairs officer for the Illinois Department of Military Affairs, said that anything he might say "would be premature and speculative."
In Missouri, Holden spokesman Jerry Nachtigal said 150 members of the Missouri National Guard will provide security at seven airports in the state, adding he expects they will be on duty late next week. Nachtigal said baggage screening will probably be the main duty of the guardsmen, but not their only duty.
While he said specific numbers on how many guard personnel will be sent to each airport were not available, Nachtigal said Lambert Airport and Kansas City International Airport will probably receive the majority of guard personnel. He said Kansas City will probably receive the most, because it has more security checkpoints than Lambert.
President George W. Bush has asked governors to call up about 4,000 National Guardsmen nationwide to provide security at 720 checkpoints in 420 commercial airports, Nachtigal said.
"The call-up will come in the next few days," he said.
Holden's new adviser on homeland security, retired Army Col. Timothy Daniel, said he expected a briefing today on the airport deployment.
Some key issues to resolve include what kind of Guardsmen to place at airports, whether they will have guns and, if so, what rules of engagement they would follow, Daniel said.
Most military personnel have not received training in commercial airport security, he said.
National Guard members first will have to be trained by the Federal Aviation Administration on passenger and baggage screening, conflict management and the handling of deadly materials in airports. That could take three to four days, the governor's office said.
Guardsmen will be in airports while Bush implements a security plan, including expanding the number of armed sky marshals on airplanes, the White House said. "Fully implementing the extensive security proposal may take four to six months," the White House statement said.
Mike Donatt, a spokesman for Lambert Airport, said he hopes the presence of the guardsmen will get people flying.
"As much as anything, they will be that federal presence that will hopefully increase the presence of the traveling public," he said.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
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