Having a few searches under your belt before going “live” might be useful
That was the plan in Arcadia, Iowa:
The four-day event in April would have involved between 90 and 100 combat troops arriving in the Carroll County community in a convoy with a Blackhawk military helicopter flying overhead.
Troops would have gone door to door, asking the town’s 443 residents about a suspected arms dealer and conducting searches of homes if property owners volunteered in advance to cooperate.
The thought behind the exercise was to acclimate the guard troops to doing that sort of search when deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq (where they expect to be deployed in the next year or two).
On the face this sounds awful. US troops searching US homes for guns? It is appalling and lacking information those concerned with 2nd amendment rights were right to be flabbergasted and concerned.
But I actually think the idea, in this specific case, has merit. Searching homes is traumatic to the homeowner. US troops should do that where they can see the trauma caused. If done for the first time in Afghanistan they won’t recognize the cultural signs of distress or might not show the proper respect and care that can accomplish their mission that day while making their long term mission more feasible.
So this was “good Army training” but VERY BAD “Army PR”.