Denny wrote:
I speak AIM fluently...
There is a turf war between the controllers union and the privatized
FSS.. All the AIM manuals in the world will not get ATC to
cooperate..

If you are surprised that you don't get a transponer squawk code when
you file a *VFR* flight plan, I'm afraid that you are not as familiar
with the AIM as you may think. Except for a few certain exceptions
(ADIZ, Weirdness in ROC, etc), there has never been much connection
between a VFR flight plan and air traffic control. The ATC guys do NOT
get your *VFR* flight plan, and this has been the case long before
Lockheed got the AFSS contract.

Traffic Advisories (aka "Flight Following") is merely a service that ATC
may provide upon request to VFR aircraft, whether you have a flight plan
or not. They may hand you off to other facilities if they can, but keep
in mind the VFR aircraft may be flying too low for a hand off in any
given area.

I believe if you file a Defense VFR (or DVFR) flight plan than ATC will
get the flight plan. Not sure if this would work for the Washington
ADIZ, but apparently they want all flight plans filed there directly
with Leesburg AFSS anyway.