Quote Originally Posted by Steve Blair View Post
I would tend to suspect (and it's a suspicion, mind) that "growing" a cell would be better than bolt on, if for no other reason than the home-grown cell would understand the unit's AO, operating procedures, and so on. Any element coming from outside would have that additional learning curve to deal with.
We hear on other threads about the "learning curve" issue associated with unit rotations. Perhaps a solution would be to bolt on a newly arrived maneuver company to an existing intel cell that has been in country for 6 months or so. In other words, stagger rotations so that either the maneuver unit or its supporting intel team has enough time on station to bring the other element up to speed on the AO's peculiarities. I doubt a 2-week right seat ride during a RIP/TOA would be adequate.