I read Galaxyflyer comments, but are FSDOs tightening up on this at all? Alot of places are still doing 3 takeoff/landings and a "ground school". Never heard of anyone declined an SIC by the FSDO (or an operator when they really needed a gearslinger).
I don't think they've tightened it up, at least not around here. My local FSDO just wants to see a signoff indicating that 61.55 has been met. Whether or not any of that training has actually been done, the FSDO doesn't verify. So it's *very* abused.
Some operators take 61.55 seriously and do the training, but many don't.