The existence of FAM's make more sense than almost any other aspect of visible security in air travel. The fact that they are present on a statistically significant number of flights will actually deter any repeat of a 9/11 type plot. On the other hand, because of that fact, with the exception of an occasional "nut" case or a drunk passenger (not a terrorist), no one in the entire FAM service will ever be required to use any of their skills. They will, instead, be relegated to occasionally changing the inter-agent hand signals and airline crew "altert" words. It will be interesting to see, after 5 years, how many good agents will continue with a profession with less action than an office building security guard.