Additionally, for the environment, one would probably have a civilian to enemy ratio of 10:1 although that's manpower intensive.
The two best training opportunies that I've experienced in CONUS were the Hurricane Katrina relief in 2005 and a JRTC rotation in spring 2006.
Katrina forced the squadron to suspend close with and destroy for a bit to interact with people, help secure a city, provide humanitarian assistance, assess the damage, and coordinate for restoration of essential services.
In 2006 at JRTC, we received permission to covertly infiltrate into the box 24 hours prior to the start of operations b/c we were testing out the light RSTA concept. We spent 80% of the rotation outside the FOB, and our successes and limitations learned during that tour helped us translate that into a campaign plan and execution in Iraq.
Mike
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