Rachel McGlynn has been appointed Director of the Training Operations Division at the Transportation Security Administration. She was formerly the Deputy Director, a position she held since June 2019.
McGlynn began her career as an explosives detection canine handler in Virginia and in 2000 shifted to work at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Technical Center in Atlantic City, where she tested equipment designed to detect explosives hidden inside checked baggage. She also hid guns in baggage to create X-ray images to be used for training purposes and learned how to conceal improvised explosive devices in everyday items.
When TSA was established, McGlynn helped train the first cadre of Federal airport officers. She provided training and progressed to developing and refining security policy. She served as the Aviation Security Director for the National Security Council staff and found it to be “the most humbling opportunity to serve the American people.”
Later in her TSA career, McGlynn was appointed to be the TSA representative for 10 countries in South and Southeast Asia and relocated to Singapore for five years.