Hello [firstname],
FFDOA UPDATE
FFDO Stakeholder Meeting 9-9-22
FFDOA was well represented at our first “in-person” stakeholder meeting last week in several months with myself and several board members present.
The FFDO Program Branch Manager Denise Stark-Jones and Deputy Branch Manager Daniel Kuhn were in attendance representing TSA.
We typically begin with a short briefing from the program on our FFDO mission count which is increasing as we recover from Covid drawbacks. FFDOs are on par to accomplish nearly 1,000,000 missions in FY22. The program estimates these missions cost the government around $22.00 per flight. I think this is an impressive statistic and worthy of acknowledgement to our great FFDO volunteers who continue to provide a vital layer of security for our nation’s transportation infrastructure.
Budget issues continue to present what I believe is our biggest concern. The FFDO program budget hovers around $20 million dollars, which is just enough to sustain the program, but not enough to grow or accomplish any significant initiatives. This is an important priority for FFDOA to collaborate with our partners at ALPA and CAPA to address our budget issues through Congress once and for all.
Many have asked about additional requalification sites. At this time there are 37 requal sites that are active, and only 2 sites have a utilization rate of over 50%. This means that even the busiest requal sites only use about half of the available slots allocated. Therefore, the program is briefing us that additional sites are not being considered at this time, but depending on several factors may be considered in the future.
The weapons refresh is progressing with over 3600 FFDOs having received the new G19 pistol. The program is reminding FFDOs that they must complete the weapons refresh by April 2024. This is a hard deadline, so please plan accordingly!
I have received a lot of feedback regarding the suspension of issuing training ammunition to FFDOs after requalification. At FFDOA we believe that issuing training ammunition is crucial and we have advocated for returning to the policy as soon as possible. The program has "somewhat" good news in this area. Like all federal agencies, Covid caused a supply chain issue with ammunition so the decision was made to prioritize all ammunition toward maintaining the currency of active FFDOs. However, there are indicators now that the vendors are beginning to “catch up” with delivering ammo and the program is hopeful that they will begin issuing practice ammo once again in early 2023.
We want to express our appreciation to the program for listening to our feedback concerning the Glock recoil spring replacement and implementing a strategy which is more compatible with crewmember’s schedules.
Lastly, a few initiatives which are ongoing:
- The Senior FFDO program, which will allow certain FFDOs to volunteer for advanced training at the TSA Federal Air Marshal Training Center in Atlantic City, has been approved and should begin sometime in FY23.
- The Atlanta Recurrent Training Facility buildout is still a priority for the program as they are working through budget issues to accomplish the expansion.
- FFDO program leadership will be conducting several “open houses” in October and November, which will consist of program updates, medical kit training and issuance, and an intelligence briefing. We highly recommend attending these meetings if able to interact personally with program leadership.
As I stated in my 9/11 message this week, we are glad to get back into the routine of “in-person” meetings with the program. I am looking forward to energizing FFDOA in FY23 as we approach the 20th anniversary of the FFDO program.
Also, we owe our great volunteers at FFDOA an overdue THANK YOU! Our membership processing folks, industry engagement team (i.e. professional discounts), government affairs, FFDOA Board of Directors, etc....are all working on their personal time to support the association and ultimately, improve and advance the program for ALL FFDOs!
SEMPER VIGILANS!
Bill Cason
President
