Garbage collectors are paid more than these people, when you offer 30-40k a year you don't get the people that are qualified running to fill the positions. The training for most of them is basic at best and not to the level required to do the job. 90% of the population in this country not trained wouldn't know what bomb component looked like if the found them (they don't always look like the ones on TV). If we expect them to protect the planes and the passengers they need to be trained not only to look for these things but to deal with people in a professional manner. In short if you can't expect a person to go from flipping burgers one week to being skilled at anything, you have to train them to be professionals.