Airport security.

I had an interesting experience yesterday. When I drove into the
airport (White Plains, HPN), there was a checkpoint set up on the access
road. It looked semi-permanent; a drive-through pavillion (sort of a
large-tent open at both ends) with flood lights installed inside.

It was manned by an armed guard (I'm no expert, but it looked like an
M16 to me) in military dress, accompanied by a civilian police officer.
The military guy asked to see my drivers license while the police
officer searched the trunk of the car. Very polite, and it only took a
minute, but very no-nonsense either.

Anybody else see this level of security at their airports? HPN is not
your typical GA field. It's got scheduled airline traffic, and even the
GA side of the field is home to stuff you don't normally think of as GA
(it's not uncommon to see privately owned 737's on the ramp). There's a
lot of stuff that's been done lately in the name of national security
which I strongly disagree with, but this seemed quite reasonable and
appropriate to me, especially given the easy access to heavy metal on
the GA ramp.