It is interesting talking about "paid" contractors vs Regular Army folks and volunteers.
Prior to 9/11 we had Bragg soldiers who were tasked to support Robin Sage. After 9/11 the 82nd and other Bragg units couldn't afford to send troops out in the woods to be recruited to SF for 2 weeks, so we started paying role players. This caused some interesting issues according to some people: people who had been giving of their time and land and other resources for generations were all of a sudden offered money. Later on, when the inevitable money declined, some feelings were hurt and we lost land usage, role players, and relationships. It was like Afghanistan... but in Pineland.
Later, when the money dried up further, we started using brand new students who reported in to the Q Course. That was phase 1 for them: play a guerrilla out in the woods for 2 weeks. Funny- we all of a sudden had some attrition in the first few weeks of the Q more than normal...
I'll have to check what the current situation is- I had heard we were going away from that and going back to contractors. I do know that the overarching campaign plan the students are given these days sounds an awful lot like what we used as a baseline in Afghanistan for 20 years... (win hearts and minds!!!)
