Nevada National Guardsmen to handle airport security

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

Gov. Kenny Guinn said this morning he hopes to have 126 members of Nevada's National Guard ready to take up security positions Saturday at three airports in the state, including McCarran International Airport.

Guinn said the guardsmen were flying to Las Vegas to receive special Federal Aviation Administration training at McCarran on Thursday and Friday.

After their training, the guardsmen will be stationed 24-hours-a-day at McCarran and airports in Reno and Elko.

The call-up of the guardsmen was the result of a White House request, Guinn said.

Guinn and most of the nation's other 49 other governors held a series of telephone conference calls with the White last week to discuss stepped-up security measures in the way of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

This morning Guinn said he was creating his own homeland defense plan for the state and was considering naming a coordinator to oversee the plan once it's in place. A likely candidate for the position is Frank Siracusa, chief of the state Emergency Management Division, the governor said.

The new security coordinator also would work with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who was appointed by President Bush as the nation's first director of homeland security.

The White House, Guinn said, has been asking all governors to heighten security in their states in anticipation of America's response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"They want us to be prepared should the United States take some action in another country," Guinn said. "We have to be on alert because it's the unknown that we're competing with."

Guinn said Nevada's defense plan will help protect the state against any future terrorist attack.