USFS having about 600 Rangers sounds about right. Not a lot but I can remember the day when Rangers had a rifle in the truck in case a bear got out of control. BTW some of the most obnoxious LEO's in the West are the a$$holes from the BLM. I have filed complaints on two of them for just being jerks. I had to point out to one snot nosed punk who threatened to "arrest us and seize our vehicles" that we were 90 miles from anything and that there was eight of us heavily armed citizens and there was one of him. Kinda cooled his jets off. He was in a lather because someone had killed some livestock and he was convinced it was us. We later apprehended the shooters and turned them over to the Sheriff in front of this jerk - just to make a point.
I do hope you are correct that many of the younger ones are more on the peace officer side than LEO. I have dealt with the CHP for 20 years and watched them turn into freaking Nazi's in that time. Too bad they were a great bunch of dedicated guys at one point. Our NHP is still a well balanced force along with most Sheriff's in the State. I make it a point to visit every Sheriff when I pass through his county and introduce myself to get a feel for the person. Makes it easier if there is a misunderstanding at some point. Of course the good ones get a check at election time.
It takes, on average about 8 years to make a competent LEO. Some make it faster, but the process just starts when they graduate from an academy. Academies are really TRAINING centers where they are taught just enough to keep them from getting killed (most of the time). The rest of the training comes from being on the job with more experienced LEO’s. After they are trained, they can be EDUCATED. I don’t think the public understands this. A cop is a cop is a cop, to most folks. Behind the scenes is a whole apparatus to keep them on the right track. Most of the time it works, not perfectly though. The mush-heads come out of the academy scared and really just minimally trained. I personally believe that LEO’s should not be hired until their insurance rates go down. 21 is too young by about 4 years.