1) Yes, go after task forces. You get credit and you are the big man on campus if you sink one of the big boys
2) I think most of those messages are a bit of fluff, but, there should be enough traffic in the stock game that most would be non-the-wiserif they were close enough to make a patrol of that area. (if you are interested in something like that go get RSRD(Run Silent Run Deep). This mod handles historical traffic and you are directed to were these things take place. Excellent mod if you are into that type of play.