Looking at the BRRRR strategy right now and practicing analyzing deals to get a better feel.  

After reading the usajobs posting for realty specialist with the Dept. of the Navy, I should be able to come in as a GS9 simply based on education.A last concern I have is practicing real estate sales in my off time and whether that is a conflict of interest.

Simple thing is to just take the required education, which sounds like you have done, and then to find practice tests and just work till you consistently get a 90 percent on them or better.

The only way other than PPC to generate leads is through a site that you have done solid SEO on and gotten to the top of that coveted first page on google. 

Networking is always a great practice and you never know who you might meet there and what good information they have to share.

Same as practicing medicine is required.

They tel you how to do analysis, but Dont stress the practice needed.So many new investors want that first deal so bad that they ignore or skew the analysis an it cost you nothing to look at deal and practice

Great practical book with actionable steps.Enjoy!

I think if you're referring other people as commercial tenants, however, you definitely need a real estate license because you're brokering tenancies in a property you don't own.I can really only answer question 2 here, and under question 2, I think that is for sure practicing real estate without a license. 

Get a copy of the foreclosures prior and maybe go see a couple of the properties (as much as you can see within legal limits) and then run some numbers as practice to how much rehab and ARV would be.