Home loss leads to job loss for veteran federal air marshal

[Liberal_in_LA]

Washington (CNN) -- Some people lose their homes because they have lost their jobs.

John Gowan, a Federal air marshal, says he's losing his job because he is losing his home.

The Transportation Security Administration this month notified Gowan, 43, that it is firing him because his security clearance was revoked, a direct result of bank foreclosures on his home and two investment properties, and related debts.

Federal rules require employees with security clearances to remain solvent -- or to disclose their debts -- so they will be free from the "potential for coercion," or bribes.

Aware of the rules, Gowan notified his boss in the spring of 2008 of his financial problems brought on by the real estate collapse and a divorce, he said. He again disclosed his money woes several months later during a routine five-year review of his security clearance, listing the pending foreclosures and other debts.

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Gowan apparently isn't the only air marshal whose financial problems threatened their jobs, records show. In March of 2009, the TSA issued a policy statement saying that in consideration of the "current economic climate," foreclosures and bankruptcies would not automatically disqualify individuals from working with the TSA.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/16/air.marshal.dismissal/

[Robb]

1. What does air marshal work pay, anyhow?

I'd like some investment property. Well, OK, maybe not, in this economy. :D