Research Paper

Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill sets for employment within the aviation security environment: a qualitative inquiry of aviation security professionals Jon M. Loffi &Timm J. Bliss &Chad L. Depperschmidt Received: 8 March 2013 / Accepted: 1 April 2013 / Published online: 14 April 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 AbstractAs the world observed the morning of September 11, 2001, it witnessed an event that changed the world. This event introduced the world to asymmetrical warfare, as a relatively small number of committed individuals transformed four U.S. commercial airplanes into missiles and committed mass murder of innocent people in America’s homeland. These attacks, universally, focused the need for better security practices in order to mitigate the risks of those intending to do harm to the aviation industry. In order to improve security practices in the field of aviation security, this research study sought to identify a body of knowledge or common skill sets that can assist the aviation security professional in the effectiveness of mitigating security threats in the U.S. civil aviation network. This qualitative study conducted detailed personal interviews with ten aviation security professionals in the private and governmental sectors to identify knowledge demands and essential professional skill sets needed for employment in the aviation security environment. The analysis of the data identified seven different knowledge demands or skill sets. These seven knowl- edge demands or skill sets included: behavioral profiling, risk management, leader- ship, critical thinking, terrorism, airport environment, and aviation law.

KeywordsAviation security knowledge demands.

Aviation security skill sets Introduction From the early beginnings of“controllable-powered”flight by the Wright brothers in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903; air transportation has had a significant impact on our daily lives (Bilstein2001). During the past century, aviation J Transp Secur (2013) 6:235–256 DOI 10.1007/s12198-013-0114-2 J. M. Loffi (*) :T. J. Bliss :C. L. Depperschmidt Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA e-mail: [email protected] has brought to man the ability to traverse over land and sea at speeds not imagined in the days of the Wright brothers. Aviation has evolved into a very effective mode of transportation, which brings financial and social stability to the world (Price and Forrest2009).

However, aviation has also brought disaster and terror to the forefront. The technology enjoyed by the advent of the airplane seems to be a two-edged sword.

The physicist C.P. Snow says about technology,“...isaqueer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other”(Schneier2003, p. 101). Seemingly, terror has worked in the background of aviation almost since the inception of the industry, as indicated by all of the documented occurrences since the first hijacking in 1931. Civil aviation has historically been a productive target for terrorists. Airports and aircraft alike have been a convenient medium for criminal activity. This has been evidenced by terrorists typically gaining geopolitical attention to their cause by sabotaging and downing aircraft (Price and Forrest2009).

September 11, 2001, brought the reality of terrorism to the U.S. homeland. The horrific acts Americans were accustomed to watching on television taking place in distant lands were now on U.S. soil. The medium of that event came in the form of four U.S. airlines being transformed into weapons of mass destruction by a deter- mined group of radical terrorists. This act resulted in the destruction of the World Trade Center and significant damage to the Pentagon (Sweet2009). As a result, it is imperative that the U.S. government protects the flying public and the homeland of the U.S.

The mainstream media defines terrorism as,“acts of politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents”(Thomas2008, Vol. 1, p. 98). While the most devastating attack was perpetrated by al Qaeda on September 11, 2001, the aviation industry has been affected by this terrorism phenomenon by groups seeking specific political goals, be they demanding change or release of political prisoners, and by some groups with seemingly no clear objectives. Consequently, aviation will likely remain in the forefront as a viable target for terrorists and it will not soon go away.

The aviation industry is a complex system of systems, but its infrastructure primarily consists of aircraft operations, airports, and supporting agencies. Each system segment of the aviation industry contains strengths and weaknesses. Each segment has the potential for corruption and is vulnerable to intentional harmful attacks. The segment of aviation largely affected by potential terrorist threats is the commercial transportation sector. This segment is comprised mostly of commercial passenger operations, cargo, and the physical facilities of operations associated with these activities. The need for security in these aviation segments is obvious; however, the aviation security industry has been criticized for not getting it right. The reasons for terrorism do not change—the tactics change. In order to achieve an agenda for a security problem, and create sensible security, the issues should be approached as a social problem. Additionally, the agendas of all the players associated in the security industry need to be understood (Schneier2003).

The protection of aviation should be a national priority. The U.S. government and its security forces had very little knowledge to protect aviation from terrorism on September 11, 2001 (Price and Forrest2009). Security measures always seem to be reactive and always one event behind; therefore, a more in-depth research focus 236J.M. Loffi et al. should be implemented to stay ahead of the game in anticipation of the next move by those intending to do harm to the flying public. A new paradigm needs to exist.

Identification of knowledge demands and professional skill sets that can assist the aviation security professional in identifying and understanding terrorist agendas and tactics are essential in protecting the U.S. aviation industry.

The fundamental purpose of this qualitative research was to identify these knowl- edge demands and essential professional skill sets by conducting detailed personal interviews with ten aviation security professionals in both the private and govern- mental sectors. Aviation security experts across a broad spectrum of disciplines can provide a rich source of data to meet the desired knowledge demands and skill sets sought by the aviation security industry.

Methodology The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify knowledge demands and essential professional skill sets neededfor employment in the aviation security environment by addressing the following research question:

&What are the basic knowledge demands and essential professional skill sets needed for employment within the aviation security environment?

The research sample A purposeful sample procedure was used by the researchers. Purposeful sampling yields insights and in-depth understanding and not necessarily empirical generaliza- tions (Patton2002). The researchers sought to locate professional experts actively working in the field of aviation security. Some of the participants were known to the researchers and some were obtained by a snowball sampling strategy.

The research sample included ten individuals from the aviation security environ- ment. Each participant was interviewed and selected based on their professional knowledge concerning aviation security and their involvement and participation within this environment. Purposeful sampling allowed for sampling across various locations within the U.S. and in other countries.

Although the participants were all involved in the field of aviation security there were demographic differences among them. These differences included: (a) which sector of aviation security they were employed or associated, (b) nation- ality, and (c) length of experience in the field. Table1is an illustration of the participant sample.

Permission to perform this research study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Oklahoma State University (IRB application number: ED 1245).

Research instrument An interview protocol guide was developed as suggested by Patton (2002). Potential research participants were identified by the researchers’professional contacts and further snowballing sampling techniques where participants who were interviewed Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 237 would recommend others to be interviewed (Bogdan and Bilklen2003). A recording procedure was established, the interview questionnaire and consent forms were published and the time constraints met the predicted expectations. The research instrument asked participants seven questions. The interview questions were intended to achieve the following:

1. Identify specific information about the qualifications of the interviewee.

2. Determine knowledge demands and skill sets needed for employment in the aviation security environment.

Validity and reliability For this research, the use of triangulation was utilized to add to its validity or credibility. The aviation security professionals came from three basic categories, in that, some were from consulting businesses in the private sector, some were from the actual practice of aviation security in the governmental sector, and finally some were from academia who authored text books in the field or were teaching professionals engaged in homeland security and military affairs. Additionally, research regarding current trends in aviation security was checked against the opinions of those interviewed for further validation of the data.

Interview questions were drafted and tested prior to the interviews of the partic- ipants. Practice interviews on three persons who had knowledge of the issues of aviation security were conducted by the researchers to determine if the questions would produce the desired result. Testing and standardizing the research instrument minimized threats to validity (Fraenkel and Wallen2006). Once the interview ques- tions were refined and tested, the actual interview process was scheduled for the participants.

Data collection In the summer of 2012, the researchers conducted interviews with all ten participants.

Due to geographic challenges, not all participants could be interviewed in person; therefore, four participants were interviewed in person, three participants were interviewed using Skype, and three participants were interviewed by telephone. A verbatim transcription of the interviewswas completed by the researchers after conducting the interviews. To ensure anonymity, each person interviewed was Table 1Participant backgrounds Participant background Participant #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 Aviation x x x x x x x x x x Security x x x x x x x x x x Government x x x x x x Private x x Academia x x 238J.M. Loffi et al. assigned a participant number for identification. Each participant in this study provided their own unique perspective of the issues in aviation security from a real- world or pragmatic point of view. The validity of these findings is found within the information richness of the selected participants and the analytical capabilities of the researchers rather than the size of the sample. The data extracted from the interviews came from a field of participants who were highly acclaimed in the area of aviation security and illuminated the skill sets needed for employment in the aviation security environment. Each participant had extensive knowledge of the inner-workings and application of aviation security practices from a pragmatic approach. According to Patton (2002), the very essence of qualitative research is its candidness and the close contact the researcher has with the issue being investigated and in-depth interviewing.

Below is a“snap-shot”of each participants qualifications and experience of specific issues being investigated by the researchers. The participant data listed was extracted from the first three interview questions of the questionnaire; which asked each participant’s career history, educational level, professional training, and overall experiences involving aviation security.

Participants’qualifications and experience Participant 1: Employed in the aviation security, dignitary protection, and law enforcement sectors. Participant 1 works in aviation security and has over 20 years of experience in law enforcement, and conducts several training classes annually in aviation security. Participant 1 is currently completing a graduate degree in Aviation Education.

Participant 2: Employed in the Aviation Security and Military Officer sectors.

Participant 2 supervises a field office and has been conferred with several graduate degrees, and considered ABD in doctoral studies.

This participant possesses extensive experience in aviation security and has been active in the development of aviation security policies and procedures.

Participant 3: Employed in the Aviation Security and Explosives Detection sectors.

Participant 3 designs and builds explosive detection equipment in the private sector for civil airports and for the Department of Defense for military operations on an international basis. Holds a graduate degree in forensic and analytical chemistry from a European university and has been conferred with a Ph.D. from an American university. This participant travels abroad extensively consulting on aviation security issues in explosives.

Participant 4: Employed in the Aviation and Aviation Security Consulting sectors.

Participant 4 has developed several aviation and aviation security consulting companies.Internationally renowned aviation security expert. Former police officer in Europe with extensive law en- forcement experience in transportation security. Has published several articles in aviation and aviation security. Co-Authored a text book in aviation security management. Has appeared on numerous documentaries concerning aviation security, and has served as a consultant to private corporations, the U.S. government, Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 239 and foreign governments on the issues of aviation security and safety. Has been conferred with a graduate degree and is completing aPh.D.

Participant 5: Employed in the Aviation Security, Diplomatic and Homeland Secu- rity, and military sectors. Participant 5 has over 20 years of experi- ence in aviation security, diplomatic and national defense sectors in a foreign country. Participant 5 now works in a security consulting company conducting international training classes in terrorism and aviation security. Developed graduate studies abroad for a major university in security measures.

Participant 6: Employed in the Higher Education and Private Business sectors.

Participant 6 has a Ph.D. and teaches at a major American university.

Has authored many text books in aviation security and aviation security management.

Participant 7: Employed in the Higher Education Military University sector. Partic- ipant 7 has a Ph.D. from a European university in International Re- lations with an emphasis in Aviation Security. Has been imbedded with the military in theater overseas conducting research. Has been recognized as an aviation security expert worldwide and teaches graduate classes in terrorism and aviation security for the military department.

Participant 8: Employed in the Aviation Military and International Aviation Secu- rity sectors. Participant 8 has over of 20 years of aviation experience in the U.S. military. Experience includes AWACS operations and air traffic control. Has worked internationally in ICAO. Has worked specifically in aviation security pre-September 11, 2001. Has conducted numerous classes at the federal level in aviation security and works in a position involving Homeland Security. Holds a Bachelor degree in aviation from a U.S. university.

Participant 9: Employed in the military and special operations, law enforcement (federal and local), and aviation security (domestic and international) sectors. Participant 9 is a retired special forces commander with extensive experience worldwide. Participant 9 holds a graduate de- gree in terrorism, and thesis work was in aviation security. Participant 9 worked at the federal level in aviation security pre-September 11, 2001. Has extensive experience in law enforcement. Has been rec- ognized as an aviation security expert and has appeared in many televised documentaries on aviation security. Has extensive experi- ence in“Red Team Operations”testing aviation security domestically and abroad.

Participant 10: Employed in the Aviation Security, Military, and Law Enforcement sectors. Participant 10 is currently working in the field of aviation security. Has been conferred with a graduate degree in security administration. Has served in two branches of the military and was a law enforcement investigator in the military. Has extensive experi- ence in aviation security on a worldwide level and has conducted numerous“Red Team Operations”in aviation security. Has testified 240J.M. Loffi et al. as an expert witness before Congress on the events of September 11, 2001. Has been recognized as a leading expert internationally in aviation security and has appeared in televised documentaries on aviation security.

Analysis of the data The data analysis was conducted using NVivo 10, a computerized software program designed for use in qualitative research. The digital recordings of the interviews were transcribed and exported into the NVivo 10 program for coding. A code list was determined and each interview was appraised in detail using the appropriate code linked to the text in the transcriptions. After completion of the coding of the transcribed interviews, specific data from these files were extracted and reports were then generated which catalogued the data. From the data specific recommendations as to knowledge demands and professional skill sets, were then created by the researchers. A comparison of these reports was triangulated to identify similarities and agreement among the participants. Those areas where triangulation was the greatest were noted for maximum consideration. Special attention was given to those areas of data that the participants agreed upon or had similar meaning. The participant’s responses that had similar meaning or were similar topics were given a percentage ranking of agreement among all of the participants.

Findings The findings for this study resulted in over 200 pages of transcribed interviews from ten aviation security professionals. The participants were individuals who actually worked or participated in the practice of aviation security and were not in executive positions within their respective firms or employment sectors. The analysis of data included a process of coding and categorizing to identify any emerging knowledge demands or skill sets. The knowledge demands and skill sets which emerged from this research provided a rich resource for aviation security professionals. Additionally, the participant’sperspectivesonthissubject provided a clear picture of their individual opinions of the U.S. aviation security system. The participant responses were then placed into nodes or categories as they emerged from the analysis. Seven knowledge demands or skill sets emerged from the analysis of data. These seven were: behavioral profiling, risk management, leadership, critical thinking, terrorism, airport envi- ronment, and aviation law.

The purpose of the first three interview questions was to gain insight of the participants experience and experiences in aviation security. The remaining three questions were designed to probe the aviation security issues, and address the research question.

Interview question 4 Question four was designed to determine if the participants based on his/her knowledge and experience in the aviation Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 241 security industry was aware if the employment qualifications for the aviation security industry had changed from what they were prior to September 11, 2001.

Five of the ten participants (50 %) agreed the employment qualifications have changed, three of the participants agreed they have not seen a change in the requirements, and two of the participants had no knowledge of the employment re- quirements. The two participants who did not know the employment qualifications were not in a professional position to know what the employment qualifications specified either before or after the events of September 11, 2001. The five participants who knew that employment qualifications had changed cited professionalism, background, and a trend to not hire persons exclusively from either a military or a law enforcement background as a few examples of change. One of these five participants said the changes in the employment qualifications have worsened stating that the Federal Govern- ment only looked for persons to service a dysfunctional bureaucracy.

Interview question 5 The fifth interview question was designed to discover the knowledge demands a prospective employee should pos- sess for employment in the aviation security sector. All of the participant’s responses (100 %) were similar or very close in their description of the knowledge demands required to be effective in aviation security. These re- sponses included: a good knowledge of the technology and the airport environment, behavioral profiling, histor- ical knowledge of aviation security and terrorism, risk management, and knowledge of the law and the code of Federal regulations.

Aviation security can be applied to many areas of the aviation industry. Governmental and private sectors spe- cifically have their own knowledge demands. Each of the participants recognized and discussed the differences and cautioned that the recommended knowledge demands are wide-ranging and should be applicable to aviation secu- rity from a broad perspective regardless of the sector. The discussions regarding this topic seemed to generate a feeling of protecting individual areas of responsibility or “turf.” Interview question 6 The sixth interview question provided insight for what professional skill sets a prospective employee should possess for employment in the aviation security industry today. All of the participant’s responses (100 %) identi- fied the same areas considered essential as skill sets.

These included leadership skills, risk management skills, critical thinking skills, and communication skills; and 242J.M. Loffi et al. were all considered essential for a good aviation security professional.

Evaluation and analysis of findings The research question addressed by this study was based on the central question of determining the basic knowledge demands and essential professional skill sets needed for employment within the aviation security environment. Seven knowledge demands or skill sets were identified by participants, which considered them crucial to what should be considered for employment in aviation security environment. The follow- ing is an evaluation of each knowledge demand or professional skill set.

Behavioral profiling The technique of behavioral profiling was cited as a knowledge demand considered important to effective aviation security. Seven of the participants (70 %) cited behavioral profiling as critical for inclusion as a knowledge demand. Behavioral profiling in the U.S. aviation security system has been somewhat ignored or not employed properly. As one participant stated, The only thing that ever had me concerned about getting caught when I was doing red team stuff, was a human being that was actually looking for the terrorist profiles and that is where the entire focus should be—is looking for the people and not spending billions and billions of dollars on technology, which a freshman in high school can figure his way to get around. That is the single biggest flaw in security (Participant 10, Interview response, June 4, 2012).

The participant expressed the view that the behavioral profiling practice employed in the U.S. is being done incorrectly. What was discussed during this portion of the interview were the differences between the U.S. procedure known as Screening of Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT), which is utilized by trained TSA employees referred to as Behavioral Detection Officers (BDOs), and the Israeli Behavioral Pattern Recognition (BPR) procedure. The U.S. method was not being performed from the perspective of looking for a terrorist. As noted in participant 10’s response, Their focus is wrong. It’s determined by political correctness and, some of these other negative traits that they have—what we need to do is train people to actually look for what the terrorists may be and that’s a big difference between SPOT and what the Israelis are doing. But in my opinion, it’s something we can and should do. It would be cheaper than what we’re doing now. (Participant 10, Interview response, June 4, 2012).

The culture in America has made the use of this technique difficult, and its use could be interpreted as racial bias by U.S. security authorities. All of the participants who responded to the notion of behavioral profiling agreed it does work when employed properly. As stated by one of the participants in the response concerning behavioral profiling,“The Israelis have no problem with profiling. If we didn’t call it Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 243 that over here I think it would really work”(Participant 3, Interview response, April 4, 2012).

The practice of behavioral profiling was noted in the response of a participant when talking about knowledge demands. The comments were in the context of making a differentiation between nervous behavior as it may relate to the fear of flying, and the nervous tendencies exhibited by a person intending to do harm. As cited in this response, But they need to be able to recognize a threat object and also probably have enough of an understanding of human nature to understand why is this person in front of me nervous? Are they nervous because they pose a threat, or are they nervous because they hate to fly? (Participant 7, Interview Response, May 4, 2012).

The practice of behavioral profiling is a learned process. One of the participants who cited this as means for detecting terrorists also included a caveat. The caveat concerns the difficulty of teaching this practice in a classroom setting. Behavioral profiling is a practice, which requires a more hands-on technique. This was acknowl- edged by one of the participants, That’s a really tough skill set to learn. I see that in our own SPOT program.

They go through training and they learn certain behaviors that they watch for.

But until I actually do it, it’s a really tough thing. We all profile whether we realize it or not. We’ve made profiling as a dirty word and I don’t think it is. I think we ought to be profiling actions and those behaviors (Participant 1, Interview Response, March 30, 2012).

Risk management Risk management emerged as a professional skill set needed for employment in aviation security environment. The participants were asked directly about skill sets and six of the participants (60 %) included risk management as a critical need. Those participants who included risk management as a critical element expressed excite- ment and enthusiasm in articulating itsimportance in an aviation security. The participants indicated risk management was at the core of aviation security. Risk management is the heart of any security discipline. As indicated by one of the participants responses, It’s very difficult to be proactive in the security domain. Very difficult to get the budgets to do it but you have to try and think what’s the next step. What will— what may they throw at us next which—now I’m talking about management and policy and senior people and you got to look for people—you need a certain degree of creativity and you need good management skills. I think you need risk management skills. Risk management is critical. I think one of the core competencies for any security professional. And I would think it’s one of the key or core elements in homeland security should be risk management . . .

but risk management has to be a central one because it’s relevant for all areas of 244J.M. Loffi et al. security not only aviation and it’s probably the heart of all security. (Participant 5, Interview Response, April 12, 2012).

The participant further related how important risk management was as it applied to employment in aviation security. The practice of risk management is used when making assessments of airports and airlines, and risk management tools were a part of daily work life. The participant further expressed the importance of risk management as an academic competency, which should be utilized. As noted in the following response, I do it all the time. When I go and do a survey—an assessment on an airport or an airline, and I use risk assessment tools to evaluate the whole situation. It’s the best method to use. Risk management methodology was developed first in the military that’s for military use. It works best in security operations and of course, then it was adapted into the chemical industry for protecting safety, it’s a core competency academically. (Participant 5, Interview Response, April 12, 2012).

In a discussion with one of the participants concerning the skill sets needed for employment in the aviation security environment the need for contingency planning emerged. Contingency planning was referred to as a professional skill set, which was translated by the participant as a means to mitigate the threat of terrorism as being a risk management approach. The participant explained a proper education in risk management in the aviation industry provides a new perspective of the environment.

As illustrated in the following response, I would say that contingency planning is a strong professional skill, and then you might even wrap around that, the overall description of risk management. I think possibly one of the most valuable elements of my postgraduate diploma was Risk Management. It was a very good unit and if it’s delivered well, then what it does is it allows you to see the environment that you’re working in from a different perspective than your past training was given with. You have to take into account that you work for a government department. You are often in a situation where you cannot win so to speak, but your ability to render a risk management knowledge approach, to guide them towards solutions that they might not have thought of, I think is very, very valuable (Participant 4, Interview Response, April 15, 2012).

The participant also explained how the job of a security professional is vital to informing the management staff of an aviation company in the event of a disaster, such as the event of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. The participant pointed out how bad communications were in those days and this deficiency was noted in the President’s Commission report about Pan Am 103. As noted in this response, I’m naturally attached to this kind of thing because you can imagine if you’re an aviation security professional working for an airline, and there’s a crash and Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 245 fatalities and the airline in past form shoot yourself in the foot by failing to advise people who are urgently inquiring about what’s happened to their families, not releasing information coming out with no comment. Fortunately, those days appear to have dissipated but it used to be quite bad when airlines didn’tcommu- nicate and some of the knowledge that came out of the President’s Commission on Pan AM 103 dealt with that area—directly with that area of the way in which airlines manage that. Now, the aviation security professional is on the periphery of that not in the center of that because that’s a task undertaken by other departments in the airline . . . (Participant 4, Interview Response, April 15, 2012).

The concept of a risk based management approach was also noted by one of the participants actively working in aviation security. The aviation security industry has come to realize the importance of a risk management approach and concentrate on looking for the person who is considered a higher risk. As stated in this response, Mr. Pistol’s efforts at screening for intent, risk based security we are off on another good path here I really believe that. I’m not just saying it but I do truly believe that this is the right thing to do. Mr. Pistol has this vision of risk-based security and frankly I think it’s the right one because you say I’m not going to screen and scrutinize most people getting on an airplane. I’m not going to scrutinize them very hard, and I’m going to focus all my resources on who I think is higher risk (Participant 2, Interview Response, March 30, 2012).

Leadership in aviation security Leadership skills, identified as a professional skill set, were a topic discussed by eight of the participants (80 %) as essential to being a good aviation security professional.

Various segments of what was considered essential to leadership as it applies to aviation security were discussed among the participants. Some examples of these qualities are, but not limited to: being a leader of people and not manage them, being a good mentor, being able to accept negative criticism from your subordinates and remain open minded, and the education in leadership should be from a multi- disciplinary approach. The following from one of the participants illustrates the concept of leading and not managing, Today in this country we have no leadership. I don’t know if you ever heard of a woman called Amazing Grace Hopper? A little old lady who was a mathema- tician was the Navy’s first female admiral. She grabbed the Navy kicking and screaming a number of years ago into the computer age and her quote said“you lead people, you manage things.”So you need to be able to manage a budget.

But you need to not manage your people—you need to be able to lead them, be open with them, discuss things so I think absolutely, that’s to me a sign of almost any organization, military police, civilian agencies, business (Participant 9, May 26, 2012).

When discussing the concept of a leader or manager the quality of being able to take constructive criticism and remain open minded was highlighted. This was a point 246J.M. Loffi et al. made when the interview question was posited in the need for critical content areas for employment in the aviation security environment. As illustrated by one of the participants, One of the biggest things is, particularly if you’re in management, is you have to be open minded and not react like most people do when they’re confronted with something negative. Nobody wants to be told that they made a mistake or something that they’re doing is wrong or bad. You need to look at certain information—it goes back to the red team thing. When a real red team actually tells you that a security system you have is a joke, then rather than take it out on the red team, look at the information objectively and make changes to it as you can and so open mindedness and I’m not sure, a strong self-ego where you’re not intimidated by this type of stuff which most managers are now (Participant 10, Interview Response, May 26, 2012).

A leader in the aviation security environment will have a knowledge base ground- ed in certain essential management principals. An emphasis on understanding the customer base in areas of customer relations, customer service, and related manage- ment concepts was suggested by one participant in describing skill sets as an essential component. As illustrated in this participant’s interview, I think part of the security background would also be an understanding of customer relations, customer service, some kind of a management course; basic management. (Participant 6, Interview Response, April 30, 2012).

One participant noted a good aviation security professional needs to have leader- ship skills specific to aviation security. The participant stated some companies hire a security professional who has no experience in aviation security and will not be able to lead effectively in an aviation security environment. As noted in the following response, You know a security professional has to be able to manage his security staff and so in order—he’s got to be the professional—he’s got to be both a professional in order to understand—he’s got to be able to lead—or command his staff professionally and he’s got to lead them as a commander as well. Which is, that is sometimes overlooked—sometimes in the private sector they tend to recruit someone—we’ve done some consulting with private companies. You’ll find the senior management in some of the private companies are managers. They’re business managers, they’re not security managers and they don’t have a security background and so while they might be very good at trying to make money, they don’t really know how to raise the level from a security point of view (Participant 5, Interview Response, April 12, 2012).

Critical thinking Critical thinking skills were addressed by six of the participants (60 %) in their interview responses to questions addressing the central research question of the Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 247 professional skill sets needed for employment in aviation security. The need for critical thinking skills was disclosed in discussions of what an aviation security professional must be capable of doing in performing his or her daily tasks.

The skills concerning critical thinking ranged from being able to see the big picture, thinking in depth about your responsibilities, a heightening of threat aware- ness, thinking about the next step, and having a broader understanding of risk and threat. As acknowledged by one participants response, But if you really think about your job, most of this stuff can be prevented as far as crime and I took that as a lesson towards terrorism as you need people that can actually think about their job. Don’t just look at it as big ego thing or whatever—authoritarian thing. And you can actually, kind of like Sherlock Holmes—mentally figure—findasolutiontoalotofthese problems and this goes into the skillsets (Participant 10, Interview Response, June 4, 2012).

In the application of critical thinking skills it was illustrated by one of the participants as having an employee who can focus on a problem, perhaps at a checkpoint or similar situation, who can think beyond the problem before them.

Being able to conceptualize that this problem may actually be a part of a larger circumstance or can the employee make the connection. In probing further about essential professional skills an employee in aviation security should possess, the participant responded, You want people who can see the bigger picture. And, some of these things get into an academic kind of program—a bigger picture. So, I have managers that are faced with a problem at a checkpoint and they deal with that problem and then they forget that there might be a bigger circle there that they need to worry about. They’re so focused on this guy has a bad ID and let’s take care of this guy. Wait a minute—there’s bigger circumstances here. Can you see the bigger circumstances? Can you make a connection? (Participant 2, Interview Re- sponse, March 30, 2012).

In further consideration of this skill set, another participant elaborated when discussing the required knowledge demands a prospective employee should possess for employment in aviation security management was having the ability to think and be able to change your focus of the problem, and be able to evolve with the continuing threat of terrorism in aviation security, as this participant stated, It sounds kind of obvious but one is to be able to think. Because your threat is always changing and because the intelligence is always changing, you’ve got to have that flexibility to keep changing your response (Participant 3, Interview Response, April 4, 2012).

This participant further elaborated about thinking beyond what you are being told about a problem, and having the ability to resolve the problem. An aviation security professional must be able to resolve problems. As the participant stated, 248J.M. Loffi et al. It’s an analytical thing, a critical thing and to be able to take a problem and resolve it. If I go meet the customer and they tell me that—it doesn’t even have to be aviation security but just in security business in general—they’ll tell you they may or may not tell you what the intelligence is, in terms of what kinds of threats they’re looking for. They might tell you the operational environment they want to work in. They might tell you what kind of explosives they think they might be facing. Who the enemy is. Who the bad guys could be. So then you have to start asking about potential weak spots in their infrastructure or tactics as well (Participant 3, Interview Response, April 4, 2012).

Terrorism In addressing the knowledge demands, having a knowledge of terrorism was noted as a critical need for employment in the aviation security environment. Terrorism was cited by seven of the participants (70 %) as a knowledge demand. As noted in the following response, I think you need a background in terrorism because I think you need to understand what the threat is really about, what the history of that threat against aviation is. You go back to the 1930s—the first hijacking of a plane in the world to 9/11 and there’s a huge volume of history in aviation terrorism and it changes, and so I think we need to understand where it came from and where it’s headed and where that threat starts to evolve (Participant 1, Interview Response, March 30, 2012).

When asked directly about terrorism one participant’s response was approached not only from the historical context of terrorism, but to examine the phenomenon from case studies to determine the evolution of the terrorist attack as it relates to aviation. As noted in this response, Although I talk about this being a reactionary industry, I think there’s a lot of lessons to be learned from what the industry has faced. Certainly one of the first things I did when I got into this kind of field is I started looking at case studies —just looking at history. What is the evolution of the terrorist attack using the aviation industry? You can look at Pan Am 103 that was plastic explosives stuffed inside electronics so it was x-rayed but it wasn’t identifiable because it was early days (Participant 3, Interview Response, April 4, 2012).

Acquiring the knowledge of the aspects of terrorism from countermeasures used in mitigation practices to the history of terrorism, and why aircraft are an attractive target is important for a potential employee to know, and was mentioned by one of the participants, as illustrated in this response, I think having knowledge of counterterrorism, history of terrorism, why do these guys do what they do? Why do they have a fetish for airplanes? I think that would be important stuff to know too (Participant 6, Interview Response, April 30, 2012). Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 249 Another participant responded by suggesting a blending of the history of aviation terrorism, in juxtaposition to a history of aviation security. This illustrates the way governments have responded to terrorist’s attacks, by developing security for attacks as they unfold, and not anticipating what the next event may look like. As noted in the following response, What I think the areas they need to know is history of aviation terrorism. And also, a parallel history of aviation security. In other words, how aviation security has developed in response to events which have happened in aviation terrorism. It’s usually gone that way action response. Not the other way around unfortunately, but that’s the way it’s gone (Participant 5, Interview Response, April 12, 2012).

In a discussion of the practical or pragmatic approach to aviation security, one participant illustrated the need for understanding the threats to the aviation industry from a non-state threats approach. These would include terrorists groups and criminal groups. As noted in this response, Then, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, you’re probably going to want something on threats to the industry. Understanding the contemporary security environment, particularly non-state threats to the industry, terrorist groups, criminal groups, things like that. Then you probably—you might want then some regional studies type things (Participant 7, Interview Response, May 4, 2012).

The final response on this issue was raised within the discussion of terrorism by one of the participants. It centered on understanding how a terrorist behaves. A very simple illustration of terrorist behavior was explained by one of the participants.

Aviation security professionals should understand and educate themselves on terror- ist’s behaviors as a means to prevent or deter a terrorist attack on the aviation industry.

As noted from this response, The one thing I learned about terrorism is the terrorists are like water. They follow the path of least resistance. And if you as a red team member or a security professional can understand how this path of least resistance goes, then as a security professional you can figure out a way to block that path and make them go somewhere else or make them not try at all. It’s a major effort trying to get people to think like that (Participant 10, Interview Response, June 4, 2012).

Airport environment The airport environment or a“systems approach,”as described by one participant, emerged as a knowledge demand. Seven of the participants (70 %) indicated this knowledge demand was essential for an aviation security professional. That is seeing the“big picture”of the airport environment and how it functions. A potential employee needs to learn each component, and how these individual components affect or could affect aviation security. The participants who addressed this issue strongly encouraged the need for an aviation security manger to fully grasp how each 250J.M. Loffi et al. link-in-the-chain is a vital area to understand in an effort to better prepare a potential employee to make sound security decisions.

As noted in the following response, One of my degrees is business management so you always do the case studies on such and such in this area. Or you do an exercise in the CEO, CFO or something like that or you could do the same thing in an aviation security environment. . . there’s probably a dozen things I can think of where you would take that business—the business model and apply it to an aviation security environment (Participant 2, Interview Response, March 30, 2012).

One participant described the airport environment by saying it is necessary to understand the airport landscape and how the different entities, which comprise the airport environment feed into security, as noted in this response, It’s—critical content areas. There are so many different tenants that feed into security I think it’s best to look at the umbrella of how that covers everything and suggest what is the basic set of the industry. Have the FSD at the airport —(Facility and Security Director) show you a day in the life of an airport. That speaks volumes. To get access to see what gets screened. To see where the baggage goes (Participant 3, Interview Response, April 4, 2012).

In a discussion with a participant concerning the desired knowledge demands a prospective employee should possess for employment in today’s aviation security environment, the notion of a systems approach or an understanding of the airport environment was articulated. The response covered many areas of the airport land- scape starting with the terminal area, security areas, tarmac, types of airplanes, fuel trucks, and retail entities, and the front or entrance to the airport terminal. The participant would train new employees to become familiar with these areas, and to constantly think as a terrorist and what would be appealing as a target for an attack.

The philosophy was to think like a terrorist from a tactical standpoint and to break down the airport environment into manageable segments for a security evaluation.

The emphasis was in order to accomplish this task; you must understand the com- ponent parts of the airport. As acknowledged in the following response, It’s not a fashionable term anymore but I still like the term, systems approach.

And when we had young agents come, I would take them out and try to give them my version of this. Let me give you an example . . . they’d first get the overview of the FAA . . . We’d go out we’d walk the ramps and we’d talk about airplanes, the danger areas—the identifiers—this is a 757, this is a 737, fuel trucks, catering . . . I’d take them out in front of the airport and said, we’re going to limit our system—inner system to basically where you enter the airport . . .

you’ve got the approaches to the airport, you’ve got parking garages, you’ve got where you drive up on the curb and we’d go out and start walking through the easement...Isaid I want you to think like a terrorist. . . what could a terrorist do, what does a terrorist want to do (Participant 9, Interview Response, May 26, 2012).

Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 251 In a discussion concerning critical content areas and essential skill sets needed for employment in the aviation security environment, the need for protecting a terminal flight sitting on the tarmac and the crew’s safety when staying overnight at lodging facilities on airport property was raised by the participant. This was a natural segue to being familiar with the overall airport environment as an aviation security professional.

The topic of protecting aircraft and flight crews pertains more to the private industries concerns when making decisions as an airline or charter company in this regard. The participant voiced both an international perspective and a U.S. perspec- tive, as in the following illustration of the participant’s thoughts, They’ve got to remember how are they protecting that aircraft when it’s sitting on the ground out at the airport when it’s overnight. How are we protecting their crews when the crews have to stay? So they’ve got a much broader understand- ing. For example, one of the people from one of the Asian carriers I work with was worried about IEDs. They asked could IEDs be used against our people going to a hotel? Whether they’re being intentionally targeted or not, what are the things that we need to understand about our overall operating environment that could put us at direct or indirect risk?

If it is primarily a U.S. audience then what I would do is give sort of the U.S.

approach both legally and security wise, answering basic questions: How are airports structured and governed? How is the industry structure governed? Who has responsibility for what (Participant 7, Interview Response, May 4, 2012).

The last response on this topic from a participant provided validity to the previous statements given about the notion of an overall perspective of the airport environ- ment, as noted in this response referring to not only the airport environment, but if a security professional is employed by the Transportation Security Administration your duties also include navigable water ways and other forms of interstate transportation, You would have the ability based on—because the transportation industry is always going on 24–7. You’ve got the ability to link up and do a lot of hands on stuff. Either what’s going on at the airport or what’s going out at the cargo facility, hazardous materials and even broadening out into the different things that are going like the Kerr McClellan—and again I’m kind of dragging in other transportation modes here, but it’s like the locking dam on the Kerr McClellan, that system down here why do we need security down there—okay let’sgo down and look at this thing. See how it operates (Participant 8, May 10, 2012).

Aviation law Aviation law and how it applies to aviation security emerged as a knowledge demand.

Five of the participants (50 %) stressed the importance of having a working knowl- edge of the law as it pertains to the field of aviation security. An aviation security professional must be familiar with the legal issues in order to provide a legal and ethical aviation security program, and make decisions that will not jeopardize the 252J.M. Loffi et al. integrity of their company. The broader perspective of associated entities working together in the aviation environment was tangentially referenced as well. In questioning one participant about the critical content areas associated with aviation security, the first response to the question was the law, as acknowledged in the following response, Definitely the law. ATSA, Aviation Transportation Security Act that creates TSA and defines our authority not only in passenger screening but air marshals and other ground transportation. I think you have to have that background to understand how we operate and why we operate and I think those are key. I think the Homeland Security act of 2002 is another really good example of— you have to understand where you have legal authority or where that authority comes from and that drives everything that we do. (Participant 1, Interview Response, March 30, 2012).

To provide for a foundational level of operations in aviation security, an aviation security professional needs to have an understanding of international law. As one participant noted, I would also think you probably need to know this as you’re professional anyway, but understanding international aviation law. Not that you’re going to be a lawyer but that you understand what the regulations say so that some industries have what they call a compliance officer but essentially that if you are in security, what is it that you’re supposed to be doing (Participant 7, Interview Response, May 4, 2012).

Additionally, the same participant described the need to understand the governing bodies associated with the aviation industry, and the regulations promulgated from these entities and the associated aviation laws, So an understanding of ICAO, IATA and some of the regional bodies. How do they work, how do they function, what’s their mission? Two then, aviation laws in the broader sense of the term, but then very specifically coming into law, what are the security conventions? What do they cover, what are they trying to address? Strengths and weaknesses of them, how are they applied. So I think those would be a couple of areas (Participant 7, Interview Response, May 4, 2012).

The final response from a participantindicated to being versed in the law as it pertains to aviation security and understanding how it can affect a person’s rights, The challenge between the security part of it versus the civil liberties part of it and the ability to do certain things, your freedoms versus being always locked down and secured and stuff like that. Where do you kind of mesh all that together, where it makes sense (Participant 8, Interview Response, May 10, 2012).

Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 253 Conclusions The following conclusions illustrate what the interviewed aviation security profes- sionals recommended based on the research question:What are the basic knowledge demands and essential professional skill sets needed for employment within the aviation security environment?

The findings of this study related the importance of identifying knowledge de- mands and essential skill sets that aviation security professionals are seeking from applicants applying for employment in the aviation security environment. These seven knowledge demands and skill sets identified and expressed by the aviation security professionals from their lived professional experiences included: (1) behav- ioral profiling, (2) risk management, (3) leadership, (4) critical thinking, (5) terrorism, (6) airport environment, and (7) aviation law.

Behavioral profiling is an essential skill to be learned and acquired over time as an aviation security professional. According to the participants, understanding behav- ioral profiling was an important aspect in aviation security. The method of behavioral profiling is a methodology of recognizing behavior patterns of suspicious activities of individuals. The Israeli model is actually referred to as racial profiling; however, behavioral profiling is less controversial and could be a more productive and cost effective way of securing U.S. aviation. Instead of looking at and treating everyone as a terrorist this method would allow security professionals to focus on finding a terrorist. Participant 10 noted the method utilized by TSA, referred to as the Screen- ing of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program is not being utilized correctly by the agency. The TSA uses persons know as Behavioral Detection Officers (BDOs) to perform this method; however, they are not necessarily looking for the behaviors of a terrorist. They have been trained to detect suspicious activity which yields numerous arrests of criminals perpetrating crimes on the traveling public and not persons intending to commit acts of terrorism. BDOs should be trained in the identification of terrorist activity andto understand the differences in the two behaviors.

The majority of the participants recommended risk management as a knowledge demand. Aviation security professionals should have a comprehensive understanding of risk management, as it is considered the foundational building block of any security system. Risk management with aviation security considers two elements:

(1) the likelihood of a threat, and (2) the consequences of a successful attack. Aviation security professionals must be able to decipher the differences between threat and risk. According to the participants of this study, risk management is a critical competency which should be part of the fabric of each aviation security decision process. Risk management is a proactive approach to aviation security and lessens the need to be reactive when performed correctly.

Leadership was highly recommended by the participants as an essential skill needed for employment in aviation security. Being an effective leader is a crucial aspect in implementing a vision plan. A leader must have the ability to sell the vision and have“buy-in”from subordinates or it will fail. Aviation security is a discipline, which stands apart from other leadership models; therefore, good business leaders do not necessarily make good aviation security leaders as stated by participant 5 when it was explained that some aviation companies make the mistake of placing security 254J.M. Loffi et al. professionals in positions they are not qualified to serve; therefore, the concept of leadership was an essential skill set an aviation security professional should possess.

The participants of this study emphasized the need for aviation security profes- sionals to be critical thinkers. Critical thinking is a process used in many areas associated with aviation security, for example analyzing intelligence data closely correlates with the risk management process. Critical thinking plays an important role in conducting counter security measures, such as the method described by the participants as“Red Teaming.”Another part of critical thinking is the ability of the aviation security professional to think globally. Aviation and terrorism is not uniquely confined to the U.S., but it is a global phenomenon. Participant 4 explained the fact the U.S. tends to approach aviation security from a point of introspection, and not connecting to the rest of the world. Aviation security decisions in the U.S. are axiomatic among law makers and those associated with implementing aviation security procedures. As the U.S. system of security comes into contact with global systems unexpected results can occur. Aviation security decisions need to be made with this thought in mind. These unexpected results, or as Bruce Schneier (2003) calls them“emergent properties”or“unintended consequences”will have an adverse effect on a security system (p. 49).

The subject of terrorism was also recommended by the participants as a knowledge demand for an aviation security professional. Persons employed in aviation security must have a thorough understanding of terrorism from its historical beginnings as a means of asymmetrical warfare to the current trends in terrorism from a global perspective. The majority of attacks on the aviation industry are classified as“acts of terrorism.”The fact that the aviation security professional must be able to think as a terrorist was strongly supported by the responding participants. Aviation security professionals and law enforcement agencies often talk about the term“Red Teaming.” Red teaming is organizing a team of persons who conceive ways to attack a given target from the perspective of a terrorist in order to test the effectiveness of a security plan. Security professionals should be versed on designing and implementing“Red Team Operations.” The participants agreed understanding every aspect of the airport environment and how each component of the airport interacts with each other in the daily operations of an airport is crucial. A terrorist will often strike at the weakest link of a chain as noted by Schneier (2003). These links in the chain are referred to as holes placed in a barrier to allow authorized access by trusted persons. Each entity of the airport including the terminal, parking garages, hotels and restaurants, tarmac, hangar areas, airport oper- ations area (AOA) and flight schools, are links in the chain. Effective aviation security is better achieved when the security professional learns how best to protect the holes in the barrier and how to defend against intentional and unwarranted attacks.

Lastly, aviation security law was recommended by the participants as a knowledge demand. The code of criminallaw, in particular aviation security law, is a vital competency of aviation security. An aviation security professional is responsible for protecting the assets of their company and must know what methods of security are legal to provide further protection of their company from litigation as a result of an illegal act on the part of the company’s employees. Many legal opinions emergefrom wrongful actions of law enforce- ment and other entities involved in the security process in the protection of Identifying knowledge demands and professional skill 255 society. An aviation security professional must act within the scope of law as it relates to their duties.

Recommendations for further research During the course of this research study, the issues of global difficulties associated with aviation security management were raised by the participants. Specifically noted were the differences between U.S. policies and foreign states. The U.S. federal government has been criticized by foreign states for its inability to enforce effective aviation security management. Even though, the U.S. Federal government has spent billions of dollars on aviation security measures: the following should be considered for further research:

1. Why is the U.S. system of aviation security inherently passive in regards to aviation security countermeasures? Does the rule of law afforded by the U.S.

Constitution restrict the actions of security and enforcement personnel? Further- more, does the U.S. restrict its ability to effectively deal with aviation security matters because of concerns of political correctness when compared to the effective procedures used by a foreign nation, such as Israel which is not bound by constitutional law?

While the researchers interviewed the participants, the issue of the correct methods of behavioral profiling was discussed. Participant 10 said the TSA trains their Behavioral Detection Officers (BDOs) to look for suspicious behaviors.

Suspicious behaviors may not fit the profile of a terrorist. TSA’s current methods have assisted in the capture of criminals, but have not captured a terrorist. In consideration of this, the following research is recommended.

2. The Transportation Security Administration uses the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) method for behavioral profiling. This U.S.

system is based on a certain set of assumptions for suspicious behavior. Since the aviation industry is a global enterprise, are these assumptions of suspicious behaviors by TSA based on a global perspective of terrorist’s behaviors or are they an introspective conclusion?

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