Marine Corps Lt. Col. Riccoh Player was at the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. But on this Sept. 11, when a new memorial is unveiled there commemorating the attacks of seven years ago, he said he won’t be in attendance.
Player is now an instructor at the Defense Information School, the military’s journalism and communications school, based at Fort Meade. He recalls that morning seven years ago as “controlled chaos.”
“It’s like when you get shot at for the first time — you never forget it,” he said. “On the 9/11 anniversaries, I try to be by myself. At the times of the impacts, I go outside and stay away from everyone.”
Player served a 15-month tour of duty in Iraq and said he believes the nation is safer than it was that morning.
“I think so,” he said. “I hope Americans realize the sacrifices we’re making abroad to keep this protection.”
But others, including Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., aren’t so sure.
“We have not found bin Laden,” he said. “We’ve spent so much time in Iraq, but we know for a fact that’s not where the perpetrators of 9/11 are. I don’t think we’re any safer than we were since then. But I’m thankful to God nothing has happened since 9/11.”
Since the terrorist attacks, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has made several security improvements, said airport spokesman Jonathan Dean. In January 2002, BWI was named the primary airport for the field-testing of new security measures installed by the Transportation Security Administration.
“When it comes to aviation security, BWI is widely viewed in the industry as a leading-edge airport,” Dean said. “BWI has a reputation for continually re-examining its security needs while embracing new security technologies and procedures. The airport works closely with state and federal security agencies to help ensure the safety and security of customers.”
In April 2002, the first deployment of federal security screeners in a U.S. airport started at BWI. In February 2005, the TSA introduced a new explosive detection trace portal at BWI. And in October 2005, BWI was awarded the 2005 Excellence in Airport Security Award by Airport Security Report.
One of Baltimore’s other major security concerns is its port, which hosts streams of international traffic.
After 9/11, various local and federal authorities began building a framework of guidelines for the port’s security, said Stephen Flynn, homeland security expert with the Council on Foreign Relations and a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer.
But he said strong federal mandates for port security still aren’t in place.
“The approach has been heavily on the voluntary side of things: ‘Here are some guidelines, and we want you to live up to the guidelines,’ ” he said. “There’s very little process to audit and check that people are doing what they said they’re going to do.”
Two years ago, Dubai Ports World moved to take over operations at the Port of Baltimore with its purchase of another company. But after a firestorm of political and popular opposition, the company sold its holdings in Baltimore and five other seaports.
However, Flynn said international firms have become “the most forward-leaning” on security issues, simply because they cannot afford a poor reputation and enter many U.S. business deals with a negative public perception.
However, port security in general, he said, has a long way to go.
“It remains very much a work in progress,” Flynn said. “What we’ve got is a framework in place, which, believe it or not, before 9/11 didn’t exist. There were no minimum security requirements, what they did was enough to keep the amateur vandal out.”
Staff Writers Andrew Cannarsa and Jason Flanagan contributed to this story.
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