Thank you for your service to our country. It is something to be proud of.
That does not make you an expert on guns of all types, especially .22LR.
Since about 9 I began carrying and using a rifle and shotgun. I went hunting with my Father and Brothers a few years before that. I have spent nearly my entire life in rural areas hunting, target shooting, plinking, killing farm animals, killing varmints etc.
I will admit that of the several hundred guns I have owned over the years, a Siamese Mauser in 45-70 was probably the most powerful tho the 7mm Remington mag probably had more energy. I have seen what the .22LR can do and it can do a lot. IT is not forgiving of bad shot placement.
I am a certified firearms and hunter safety instructor, at least I was until I let my certificates expire. I taught skeet at the University of Southern Mississippi for two years. There are a lot of people who know guns better than me but percentage wise it is not many.
I'm in MS myself, but back to the topic of ONLY ONE rifle to own.
I didn't say a .22 LR was bad.
I said it wasn't a large enough caliber IF you're ONLY GOING TO OWN ONE rifle.
I like the 45-70 myself and you can still get it in a "takedown", but they're too expensive and rare to be a "survival rifle".
You say you teach, and I say you've been hanging around college liberals too long, if you think a ,22 LR is a good survival rifle.
Part of survival is defending yourself, and staying alive when others are trying to kill you.
A .22 LR might be great for getting food from SMALL game, but it won't stop a charging wild hog,or a charging angry bull,
(which Mississippi is having an increasing problem with, due to idiot hunters who brought them in for game to hunt and now they're multiplying in the wild like rats)
so have you ever been around a rabies outbreak of wild animals?
I have in the 60s when I was a young teenager, an it was ugly.
I say again that a .22 LR won't cut it, and in a dangerous situation, will probably get you injured, or worse.