May Now Wear Clothes That "Fit In"

Responding to complaints of his predecessor's mandate that federal air marshals onboard commercial flights must wear a jacket and collared shirt at all times, on Thursday new Federal Air Marshal Service Chief Dana Brown relaxed those rules, effective September 1.

In a memo to the air marshals -- obtained by the Associated Press -- Brown said the dress code was changed to "allow you to blend in and not direct attention to yourself, as well as be sufficiently functional to enable you to conduct your law enforcement responsibilities."

The news was met with cheers from air marshals... many of whom stood out like a sore thumb while on flights to such locales as Hawaii, belying their preferred undercover status. The more formal dress code was put in place by former FAMS chief Thomas Quinn, who Brown succeeded at the job five months ago.

In related news, Brown also said that air marshals may now pick their own lodging when travelling, as well, as long as they chose hotels "within economic and related guidelines."

Again, the move is meant to help air marshals remain inconspicuous... something not possible in the past, when FAMS booked lodging for its officers.

Case in point: a recent Congressional report found that one Florida hotel had awarded the Federal Air Marshal Service its "company of the month" honor, due to the large number of rooms reserved by FAMS at the hotel. That's great for publicity... which is exactly what FAMS hopes to avoid.

FMI: http://ntl.bts.gov/faq/airmarshal.html