Dave Kuper
Age: 50
Hometown: Grew up in Boise; now lives in Cheney.
Occupation: Federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration at Spokane International Airport.
How life has changed since Sept. 11: Kuper worked for the civil aviation security field office of the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle.
“In the first few days following 9/11, I was literally sleeping in our command center.”
Soon he was on the road, living out of the trunk of his car and helping to design new airport security systems throughout the region. He made a transition into the TSA, a brand new federal agency charged with taking over screening passengers and baggage at airports throughout the country, and was named federal security director at Spokane International Airport.
He started out hiring 200 screeners and 15 staff members.
“It wasn’t a ground-floor opportunity; it’s a dirt-floor opportunity.”
His wife wound up needing to leave her job, sell their home in Maple Valley, Wash., and move to Cheney. During this time, both his father and his sister-in-law died.
“We had some terribly big, life-changing events all bearing down on us. It was tough for a while.”
Specific impact on daily life: He still doesn’t have a daily routine.
“I’m wrapped up in building this brand new baby agency.”
What he has gained: New friends in Spokane, new adventures and experiences, a new lifestyle. Golf is more affordable in Spokane than Seattle. Kuper likes to play Indian Canyon, which is just down the hill from the airport.
What he misses: His favorite Seattle-area dry cleaner, who laundered shirts for 90 cents apiece, never shot an ID tag through the fabric and always hung them military-style, with left shoulders out.
His 9/11 inspiration: In one of the most searing images from 9/11, a woman with long blond hair trailing in the slipstream above her jumped to her death. She seems to be looking right into the camera.
“It appeared like she was looking at me. …It looked like she was saying, ‘You can see that I did what I had to do. Now you go do what you have to do.’ It’s just burned into my brain.”