My experience with these guys. Our unit was returning from Iraq. We had been in a combat role for 14 months. We were on a charter plane (I think it was a delta flight). We landed in New York to refuel and clear customs. We had to leave all of our automatic weapons on the plane and one lucky soul had to stay on and guard them. We were all escorted to a private area out of site to clear customs. Federal armed agents stayed with us the entire time to ensure we did not leave the secure area. This was before they did the hand pat down but we had to all stand in line, pull off our combat boots, walk through the metal detectors to board our flight(full of automatic weapons). I always thought that was an absurd, inefficient use of government resources. I now see the TSA as nothing more than a jobs program and an inconvenience to travelers.