Gatekeeper of LAX: new security director has only a few months to meet federally mandated standards. Although challenges lie ahead, he says airport will be ready. (People).

DAVID Stone, the Transportation Security Administration's new security director at Los Angeles international Airport, is no stranger to ferreting out terrorist threats. The former Navy Rear Admiral commanded battleship groups charged with protecting U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization operations in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. After 28 years of military service, including serving as commander of the Nimitz Battle Group stationed in San Diego, Stone now operates under a Congressional mandate to hire and train 1,600 new screeners by Nov. 19 -- one of numerous steps he must take to plug vulnerability gaps at LAX. Dozens of airports have asked the TSA for an extension of that deadline, but Stone feels confident LAX will meet it.

Question: Describe the process in hiring federally trained personnel by Nov. 19.

Answer: Future screeners go through four hours of testing of their ability to comprehend and make judgments based on displays of an x-ray machine. It also extensively tests their English speaking capabilities. If they pass their test, they'll go on to have a physical exam, they'll have a urine test for drugs, they'll have blood pressure taken, they'll practice lifting various weighted bags to make sure they are physically able to do the work. They'll also have their fingerprints taken and have a background check for any criminal records. After they've gone through that process, they'll commence 44 hours of classroom training and 66 hours of on-the-job training with members of a mobile screening force. That team is currently deployed at various airports around the country.

Q: Don't these requirements mean that a lot of the 1,200 people currently employed as screeners will lose their jobs?

A: Congress has mandated you have to be a U.S. citizen, so right off the top, about 40 percent of our current screening force is estimated to be non-U.S. And then another 20 percent, roughly, feel they will be challenged by the English requirement. You'll lose a large portion of your current screening force.

Q: What happens if you fail to reach the Nov. 19 deadline for screeners and the Dec. 31 deadline for bomb detection machines?

A: I have a good plan and I intend to meet it. I'm not aware of any penalties. I don't have any back-up plan if I fail.

Q: Without those measures in place, how safe is LAX today?

A: LAX is very safe. We have very good security and when we federalize the airport in the fall, we're going to be even better. The current screening force has been given a revised standing operating procedure. We continue to train them on station. We've had significant enhancements in attention to detail since Sept. 11.

Q: What are the areas of airport security you feel need to be improved?

A: It would be inappropriate for me in a public forum to say, "Here's a vulnerability, and here's what we've done to fix it." I don't want to advertise what the vulnerability was for folks that may use that against us or try to probe that particular area.

Q: Do you worry there are no guarantees with regard to airport security?

A: I don't have that philosophy. I'm of the opinion that you need every day to have a deterrent mindset, that little things make a difference. That K-9 patrol in that corner of the parking lot could be the reason why a terrorist turns around and drives away. Those types of deterrents allow you one more day of security, and during that 24-hour period, that terrorist might be apprehended as a result of running a red light.

Q: Is there some form of testing of the system in place?

A: Yes. Where we go through checkpoints with a device in our bag. Even today, somebody is bringing this in their carry-on baggage (he holds up a hunting knife, toy pellet gun and a hand grenade-shaped belt buckle).

Q: How do you determine who gets randomly searched?

A: The computer-assisted passenger prescreening system is the system by which the airlines pre-screen people. I'm not going into those parameters because that divulges the prescreening "go-no-go" issue. The TSA wants the current system to be upgraded to reflect intelligence, so that people who are prescreened are ones we feel are the better candidates. The pre-Sept. 11 system we're operating under today is not optimized for that sort of assessment. The belief is we're pre-screening too many people like grandmothers and small children. (DOT Secretary Norman) Mineta has also stated that the new system will not take into consideration ethnic background, religion or race.

Q: How much pressure do the airlines put on you to make flying as convenient as possible?

A: What the airlines say is very important to me. The airport does not exist for the sheer purpose of security. It's here as an economic engine for this area and our country. I saw figures that last year 67 million people went through LAX. It's the No. 1 origination destination airport in the world. In fact, $80 billion in cargo went through here. Four hundred thousand people have their economic livelihood linked to the airport. It would be no good to have an airport with rock-solid security and no customers.

Q: Do you think the number of fliers will start to climb significantly?

A: Each day that goes by without incident is positive. It means the measures we are taking to improve security have an effect. We're not just passively waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Q: What specific measures have already been put into place?

A: A good example would be Mayor Hahn's initiative after the July 4 shooting, increasing the Los Angeles Police Department presence at the airport (with 60 officers on overtime.) Also, Mayor Hahn's initiative with Operation Perimeter Security to enhance the perimeter fencing, lighting, surveillance cameras and to tie that into a central command center. Those are all mid- to long-term initiatives that I strongly endorse.

Q: Most of the attention in enhanced homeland defense has focused on airports. Could this entice terrorists to go after other targets, such as the Ports of LA. and Long Beach?

A: When you have deterrents, which we're striving for here at LAX, there's always the question whether they go somewhere they think is a softer, easier target. I'm pleased to see that we're ramping up security at nuclear power plants, ports, airports. There's the concern that sooner or later there may be a vulnerability that's discovered that we haven't thought of. We need to have a sense of urgency about what those vulnerabilities are and then take measures to secure them.

Q: How does your naval background play into this position?

A: Most of my jobs as an operational commander really required me to understand the intelligence setting, an understanding of the threat and how the intelligence is gathered. (At LAX,) exploring what the vulnerabilities are, measuring that against the potential terrorist capabilities and working with the various security entities to plug those gaps is a major part of my job.

RELATED ARTICLE: INTERVIEW

David M. Stone

Title: Federal Security Director

Organization: Transportation Security Administration

Born: Elgin, III., 1952

Education: Bachelor of science in history from U.S. Naval Academy, Master of Arts in national security affairs, Naval Postgraduate School, Master of Arts in international studies, Naval War College, Master of Science in management from Salve Regina College.

Career Turning Point: Gaining acceptance to the U.S. Naval Academy.

Most Admired People: Father and mother.

Personal: Married, no children.