Some of you know this, but I am an active duty Marine Corps Officer. I recently moved to northern virgina for a billet that involves travel. I have over 10000 miles in ther next quarter alone. I was keenly aware of the new security measure in place and since most of my trips are short, I plan on using just a carry on bag. This week was my first trip and of course, it is right after the latest terrorist drama.

Bottom line up front: its not as bad as it would appear. I can get long winded, so I wanted to tell the moral of the story to you now. I say again, it is not that bad.

I travelled this week from DCA to OKC. I dutifully arrived 2 hours early for my flight and I was checked in and through security within 15 minutes. So I had almost two hours to kill. There was no real increased scrutiny of my bags, the only difference was that I had to take off my shoes (sandals actually).

I did carefully pack, so as not to violate any of the new security measures. All I had was my SpecOps day pack with my uniform and a change of clothes, blackberry, cell phone, mp3 player and a book.

On my return trip, I had to pack out a few small tools I had bought at one of my favorite stores, Atwoods. No real issues, save one. On my key chain I have a primer from an M198 155mm howitzer. It is all brass and is about the size of a 7.62 mm cartridge. Its a popular thing for us Arty Marines to have. Anyway, that did make the screener a little worried, so they emptied my pack and finally found it. They would not tell me what they were looking for at first, or I would have helped them out. Anyway, the supervisor said it was fine. This isn't an issue, save the fact that I have had that thing for about 6 years! I have flown around the world (literally) since 9/11 and no one has stopped me for it. So I say good job to them for asking me about it!

Why do I even post this? Because I have been reading posts on this and other sites about how bad travel is getting. I flew out of DCA, one of the most difficult airports to fly out of (IMO, besides kansas city) and it was no different than any other trip I have taken. I am flying “naked” (meaning no knife, light, multi-tool, etc) and I have to buy some shaving cream and toothpaste (which will cost me two dollars). Is this an inconvience? Yes, but it is bareable.

I have read about shipping bags, etc, but that is sometimes not an option, especially if you have multiple stops on a trip. We already have to check bags due to our affinity for sharps, so why is having to pack hygene gear any different?

Although I am one of the first to yell at the TV about all the travel restrictions out there, I must say that overall, its not as doom and gloom as one would see on TV. Just like Polak's post, its not so bad.

Garrett