Why the experience of American air marshals is interesting for Russia

The discussion that took place within темы about possible ways to counter terrorist attacks in public places, prompted the author of these lines to return to it again, turning to foreign experience in order to comprehend it and transfer it to Russian realities. Do “Western partners” have anything useful for us?

As we established earlier, you cannot assign a Russian Guard soldier to every public place on a permanent basis. To do this, you will actually have to create and maintain a separate million-strong army of security guards. Heavily armed security forces will become a priority target for terrorists, and no one will allow an ordinary citizen to carry a short-barreled weapon into a shopping center, even if he has permission. He will be stopped at the metal detectors by the “inspectors” themselves.



It turns out to be a dead end, and let everything be as it is, maybe it will blow away?

Air marshals

In fact, something useful can be gleaned from two countries unfriendly to Russia, the USA and Israel. The American approach would be quite applicable to ensuring the security of large shopping and entertainment centers due to its simplicity, practicality and relative low budget, so to speak.

In particular, the experience of creating the US Federal Air Marshal Service, which operates as part of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is of interest. Their main task is to counter terrorist attempts to hijack aircraft.

This program dates back to 1961, when law enforcement officers began working on some air flights. Since 1962, the training of marshals has been organized at the system level. In 1969, the US Marshals Service established the Sky Marshal Division. The reason was the increasing incidence of aircraft hijackings in the Middle East. The main feature of this intelligence service is that its agents act incognito.

They mix with the passengers, and the attackers never know for sure who exactly can oppose them. US Air Marshals undergo extensive training, including marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, medical, etc. They carry concealed SIG Sauer P229 .357 SIG semi-automatic pistols with a short barrel, telescopic batons and handcuffs. There can be 2-3 people on one board.

The presence in the shopping center of a dozen plainclothes agents armed with firearms and well trained in joint actions could serve as a good deterrent for attackers intending to carry out a terrorist attack there. Unlike civilians with a “short-barreled gun,” they would have the right to carry it and be prepared in advance for its use in a public place.

Promised land

The Israeli approach to combating the terrorist threat is much more comprehensive. There, in addition to the special services, society itself is actively involved.

Any call reporting a terrorist threat is transferred to a single center. For knowingly making a false call for the first time, a large fine of $200 is imposed. The caller must provide all his passport details and wait for the rapid response team. An attempt to call from the “left” number is regarded as an offense and is punishable.

Citizens receive medical insurance in case of terrorist attacks. It is customary to take first aid courses once a year. If there are casualties as a result of a terrorist attack, a call to donate blood at specific points is announced on the national media. Communication with the wounded is possible only with the permission of the special services and treating doctors.

There are many people in Israel who openly carry weapons and have the right to use them. In 2018, Homeland Security Minister Gilad Erdan was able to simplify the procedure for issuing permits to purchase it for retired military, police and emergency services workers:


The number of citizens legally owning weapons should, according to the ministry’s estimates, increase from 145 thousand to 500 thousand. Also in Israel there are licensed security guards who have the right to carry weapons. They are the ones who are involved in the protection of mass events. If there is a threat of a terrorist attack, both have the right to use weapons.

Is it possible to use the experience of the Jewish state in domestic realities? It seems that it will not be possible to transfer it from the Promised Land to the Russian one using tracing paper. But it’s really possible to borrow the idea of ​​American air marshals.