A couple of clarifying points, based on replies so far:
1) CO collected an extra $250 for my MR (base price DCA-LAS was $283, my tkt cost $530)
2) Its not clear if CO alerted TSA to my presence and/or itinerary, or if the 1st FAM alerted TSA to a guy running the same flights as him, and they contacted CO to look me up & got all my details after the 1st FAM reported me
3) DCA and LAS are both "high-risk" cities in TSA's book; recall the New Year's flight restrictions over LAS
4) Several folks commented on their perceived role of TSA - prevent incidents or react to them? I tend to think that cancelling BA 223 (LHR-IAD) repeatedly accomplishes nothing and is hurting BA seriously, but its tough to imagine anyone wishing for the 'react' defense after a luggage bomb tears a whole in the 747 over th Atlantic ocean -- what can the FAM do then?
5) I'm very curious to know what will happen to bhatnasx on his run. I'm sure that had I not been a slim, fair white guy, I'd have drawn much more scrutiny. [I will add that not all TSAs are white dudes; my first FAM on EWR-MCO-EWR was an arab-looking guy, and if he ended up looking into bhatnasx's flight activity, that conversation might well go differently than if Agent Jones "greets" him afer getting off the plane.
6) I asked the FAM if he'd ever heard of people doing mileage runs; he said no, and I told him there were whole groups of people doing so, that there was even a recent Wall St. Journal article about them. So, hopefully TSA will look into this, discover that its not a high-risk activity, and put their energy into something more fruitful.
All this really makes for a stronger case for some variant of a 'trusted traveler' program. I'm sure that my Platinum status for many years with CO helped convince TSA I wasn't a threat.
It is a shame TSA put 2 FAMs in COs FC cabin on a very popular route, EWR-LAS. There were, undoubtedly, CO Elites in the back on that flight. Anybody know if the airlines invite TSA onboard, or if TSA informs the airlines they need x seats on airline y?