Sorry, I have to strongly disagree. The existance of FAMs onboard aircraft will have nothing to do with deterring another 9/11 style attack....the only procedural change that will deter another attempting hijacking is the reinforcement of flight deck doors and strictly following the rule that under no circumstances is the flight deck door to be opened under duress regardless of what is happening in the cabin.

The cost of reinforcing the doors is substantial, but has already been done and paid for - the cost of following the rule on never opening the door is free of any monetary cost, and in the words of Mastercard, is 'priceless'. We don't need a multi-million dollar bureaucracy created to address this issue.

The FAM program has become a mess with participants divided into three families - the rent-a-cop thugs who think they are de facto Army Rangers empowered by God himself to arrest and interrogate anyone who blinks an eye; the befuddled marshalls who flew through training, are not quite sure how to react in an emergency, and who leave their weapons in the lav while taking a pee; and finally the few good folks out there who really thought they were signing up for something worthwhile, are proud of what they are trying to do, mind their business unless faced with a true emergency, and who are continually abused and stymied by an out of control management layer who threw the program together on a cocktail napkin and are more concerned with the color of everyones' sportcoats than the proper design and operation of the program.

There was nothing wrong with the old FAM program that was primarily used on international flights - if that program, as it existed, was expanded to some domestic flights, I doubt anyone at FT would have had a problem with it, or in fact, ever noticed it happened. This was the proper path to follow, however prevailing logic in the Administration is 'show and tell', so the citizens can 'see' something is being done, and can be more easily trained to remain in fear, hence the big public announcement and spots on the nightly news.

Now how about the two FAMs who strutted through the west-side DCA security checkpoint this past Saturday at 1pm, in full view of about 200 people, walking up through the 'exit' line with big grins, showing their credentials to the guard and making sure everyone in that half of the terminal saw and heard them. Sounds like these two need a refresher course on keeping a low profile.