Changes

The Board’s expansion of the exception to CSRA protected whistleblowing is contrary to the plain meaning and intent of the statute and significantly expands what Congress intended to be a very narrow exception to CSRA protected whistleblowing, '''thereby chilling would-be whistleblowers'''.<ref>{{cite web | title= August 25, 2011 U.S. Office of Special Counsel MSPB amicus curiae in support of Robert MacLean | url=http://www.cuacalifornia.com/US-Office-of-Special-Counsel-MSPB-amicus-curiae-Robert-MacLean-v-DHS-20110825.pdf | date=2011-08-25 | work=[http://www.cuacalifornia.com/ Clean Up America] | accessdate=2011-08-27}}</ref></blockquote>}}

The Board’s expansion of the exception to CSRA protected whistleblowing is contrary to the plain meaning and intent of the statute and significantly expands what Congress intended to be a very narrow exception to CSRA protected whistleblowing, '''thereby chilling would-be whistleblowers'''.<ref>{{cite web | title= August 25, 2011 U.S. Office of Special Counsel MSPB amicus curiae in support of Robert MacLean | url=http://www.cuacalifornia.com/US-Office-of-Special-Counsel-MSPB-amicus-curiae-Robert-MacLean-v-DHS-20110825.pdf | date=2011-08-25 | work=[http://www.cuacalifornia.com/ Clean Up America] | accessdate=2011-08-27}}</ref></blockquote>}}

After four years of active duty, '''Robert MacLean''' (born on March 8, 1970, in Torrejon Air Base, Madrid, Spain) elected not to reenlist and was honorably discharged from the [[U.S. Air Force]].  MacLean then entered the U.S. Border Patrol and served almost six years until he transferred to the U.S. [[Transportation Security Administration]] (TSA) immediately after the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].  MacLean was in the first FAMS class to graduate after the attacks. <ref>[http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=2331806 Air marshal’s firing prompts whistleblower suit], Stephen Losey, ''Federal Times'', November 7, 2006</ref>

On August 25, 2011, the [[United States Office of Special Counsel]] ( OSC ) declared former [[Transportation Security Administration]] (TSA) Federal Air Marshal Robert MacLean a whistleblower.<ref>{{cite web | title= Decision to fire air marshal risks silencing whistleblowers, OSC says | url=http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20110826/DEPARTMENTS03/108260301/ | date=2011-08-26 | work=[http://www.federaltimes.com Federal Times ] | accessdate=2011-08-27}}</ref>

==Aviation Security Whistleblower==

 

 

Robert MacLean was a U.S. [[Transportation Security Administration]] [[Federal Air Marshal Service]] air marshal.<ref>{{cite news | title= Whistleblowers May Have a Friend in the Oval Office | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/10/AR2008121003364.html | date=2008-12-11 | work=[[The Washington Post]] | accessdate=2008-12-28}}</ref> He was fired on April 11, 2006 for making a disclosure that protected aviation and national security.<ref>{{cite web | title= Robert MacLean: Homeland Security Whistleblower | url=http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2011/08/robert-maclean-homeland-security-whistleblower.html | date=2011-08-10 | work=[http://www.pogo.org/ Project On Government Oversight] | accessdate=2011-09-04}}</ref>

 

| url=http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-06-01/news/17429852_1_air-marshals-traveler-s-creed-air-pound-pups | date=2006-06-01 | work=[http://www.latimes.com/ Los Angeles Times] | accessdate=2011-09-05 | first=Nicole | last=Gaouette}}</ref> and boarding procedures<ref>{{cite news | title= Air marshal program in disarray, insiders say | url=http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2002/2002-08-15-air-marshals.htm | date=2002-08-16 | work=[http://www.usatoday.com/ ''USA Today''] | accessdate=2009-05-30}}</ref> were routinely exposing the identities of U.S. Federal Air Marshals, and two days after a terrorist suicide hijacking plot was discovered by U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies in the summer of 2003, the TSA formulated an operational plan to remove air marshals from nonstop, long distance flights—the type of flight used for the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001.  TSA formulated the plan after facing a budget shortfall; the purpose was to cut the costs due to air marshals having to lodge overnight at hotels after a full duty day of long distance missions traveling away from their duty stations.  Air marshals would have been absent from nonstop long-distance flights for the two months until the new federal Fiscal Year 2004.  Immediately after congressional outrage the day after MacLean's disclosure, the plan was rescinded: air marshal coverage of long haul flights was not changed.

In July 2003, U.S. Federal Air Marshal (FAM) Robert MacLean tried to blow the whistle within the TSA on a plan to reduce air marshal coverage of nonstop, long distance flights amidst heightened warnings <ref>[http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wi36t4B2OV4 Federal Air Marshal Fired for Exposing Dangerous Policy], ''CNN Lou Dobbs'', November 20, 2006</ref> based on a July 26, 2006 [[Department of Homeland Security]] (DHS) Advisory describing intelligence of an [[al-Qaeda]] suicide hijack plan. <ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2003/07/30-hijackings.htm U.S. warns of 9/11-style plane attacks], Mimi Hall and Kevin Johnson, ''USA Today'', August 1, 2003</ref>  

In July 2003, U.S. Federal Air Marshal (FAM) Robert MacLean tried to blow the whistle within the TSA on a plan to reduce air marshal coverage of nonstop, long distance flights amidst heightened warnings <ref>[http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wi36t4B2OV4 Federal Air Marshal Fired for Exposing Dangerous Policy], ''CNN Lou Dobbs'', November 20, 2006</ref> based on a July 26, 2006 [[Department of Homeland Security]] (DHS) Advisory describing intelligence of an [[al-Qaeda]] suicide hijack plan. <ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2003/07/30-hijackings.htm U.S. warns of 9/11-style plane attacks], Mimi Hall and Kevin Johnson, ''USA Today'', August 1, 2003</ref>