Even before '67 it was noted each Clan went their own way in regards to how their Watch developed. The examples IIRC was the Falcons & Crusader Wolves- one went passive gathering & analysis route while the other Clan had a higher degree of covert ops operations- I honestly forget which did which. We also see Watch operatives in various places in fiction . . . Phelan confronts a captured Crusader Wolf Watch member on a world during Operation Audacity, I cannot remember if it was a Lyran or Falcon world, and identifies him by his bloodhouse. He gives the unconfessed Watch member a message for Vlad, which spurs the Crusaders to strike at the Falcons.
We also run into a Inner Sphere abathka who had been taken in by the Falcons, regained warrior status and some rank. He was captured by the Hellions as a bondsmen and again worked his way back & up during Icestorm . . . he abandoned the Hellions on Sudeten after they orbitally bombarded Borealtown. He had stayed lower ranking, by his own mental admission, for busting heads with those who tried to put him down as a freebirth. Sounded like a good intel analyst but he was also considered a warrior IIRC.
I think by the Jihad we start to see the Clan watches more closely ape the Inner Sphere powers- but you would have to taken into account the general Clan cultural biases as well as individual Clan attitudes. For instance, the Jade Falcons who I think were the more paramilitary Watch . . . it makes sense with their stereotypes- especially when you find that they could gather some (most?) of those assigned to the Watch to create a new galaxy of warriors that were not so out of practice to be green. It means they must have either used or at least kept their skills up while assigned as analysts or observers (embassy), and especially as direct action teams. Infiltrators may or may not have been able to unless they were inserted with light mechs, BA or light vehs as part of their 'sensor platforms' . . . if they were tasked to wander the streets of some city's planet then, no practice.
Finally the other Watch reference that springs to mind is the Watch agents secreted among the civilians traveling from the OZ to the Empire in Bonfire of Worlds. One of them overheard a DS captain complaining about the Archon and sent a report about the incident. She also used a child as camouflage (pretty sure that is the way she would think about it) to get closer to her target- in this case the captain on his circuit.
I would personally expect a lot of the Watch strike teams to look like Scorpion Seekers. Which would also fit with how you might expect the Watches to be structured- Your mission is to learn about why the Horses are doing X on Planet Y. You may start off interviewing merchant caste traders on your side of the border with your support team. The warrior in charge (WoC?) may decide to send support staff on one of those merchant DS traveling to Planet Y to see what they can learn. Eventually the WoC may decide to launch a intel probe to see what happens and what is at the site. If its deemed a big enough deal . . . well, a Cluster may come calling to launch a Trial for whatever is found.
