I personally can't think of any reason for an elite fighting force to be stationed in an area of urban sprawl.

Uh, last time I checked, the most recent two conflicts the U.S. may be getting involved in or got involved in were in Mogudishu and in urban areas in the former Yugoslavia. Not to mention the urban environment of Seoul. Whether you're a hawk or a dove, the fact is, the US has been, might be, or just plain is (if there's a war in Korea) committed to conflicts where there's going to be combat in an urban or "suburban" area. You might debate the wisdom of our overseas commitments, etc., but if you think we should have an army that should have as its hope of survival the idea that the enemy will always be fighting in rural areas, you're foolish in the extreme, and if you implement those ideas you will kill a great many of your own army. Phil