MORS News Article: Rist Prize Mentioned in Congressional Testimony , Testimony by Robert S. Bray

"The FAMS was officially transferred from the Federal Aviation Administration to TSA by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. Over a four-year period, the FAMS transitioned from TSA to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement component, and then back to TSA. It has been about six years since our reintegration with TSA. Today, Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) serve as the primary law enforcement officers within TSA and are deployed on both international and domestic flights. Last year, TSA signed 23 international agreements with foreign partners, including nine agreements permitting the deployment of FAMs on flights between the U.S. and the respective countries and 14 agreements on technical assistance and information sharing. Also of note in 2011, the Military Operations Research Society selected a University of Southern California (one of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Centers of Excellence partners) collaborative project with S&T and FAMS on randomizing Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) flight schedules for the prestigious Rist Award, the first non-Department of Defense winner in history."