I've lived and worked with members of the USAF, Army, and Marine versions of these programs and across the board I think the problem with these programs is much more fundamental.

The various FAO, and FAO like programs, exist largely as an acknowledgement that the DoD requires some kind of a strategic scout.
This is commonly put forward as an individual that knows a region, its language, and its people who can advise senior DoD officials on planning, policy, and strategy.

The primary problem is that the FAO programs lack an operational mission assigned to them. The result is that while their personnel frequently get involved in HUMINT, targeted killing and comparable high profile activities the FAO program does not own these functions for their various services. The inclusion of a mission set like these into the FAO program would go a long way towards defusing the “effete diplomat and per diem whore” stink that accompanies people assigned to these billets. It would also garner respect for a community that is often viewed as a well trained pet monkey by their home service. Barring an operational mission they are little more than language qualified, hopefully, analysts in the eyes of many.

Additionally, the implementation of the program is another big problem.

First, FAO personnel should be force protection exempt when operating in their region. If you can’t get out and about to see what is going on and meet the right people, you have no purpose in this job. Bringing the goon squad with you on a meet and greet is a great way to completely kill any chance of getting anything done. True, lacking this you are going to lose people, but this is the DoD and not the State Department. We may not need the State Department we currently have, but we certainly don’t need a second State Department under the DoD.

Second, FAO personnel should be offered command opportunities and joint staff placement in positions that make sense. For example, why J-5s on geographic commands aren’t FAOs is beyond me. It may make sense to group certain enlisted career fields, like linguists, under a FAO as part of a command track in the community. I think all of this needs exploration.