Welcome to the Forum fessus! Thank you for your service to our country, we do so greatly appreciate what you all do for us and pray for your safe return.

Not sure how much you plan on doing yourself but IMO I would start with looking at budgeting vs. expectations of what your end goal is for the car along with a reasonable timeline of finishing it. And finding the best candidate to start with is imperative for saving a lot of money in the end. Prices can get pretty spooky on some of this stuff when restoring a car; paint and body work can get into some serious cash especially if you're dealing with rust repair and you won't know until the work gets started. And parts - seat covers, seat buns, carpet, and headliner is no big deal for repro availability but other pieces, if they are needed, you'll have to find used or will need to refurbish. Driveline parts are readily available and body parts for the 71-74s are out there but do keep in mind AMC's aren't like the Big 3 in that you can't just call Year One and order from a parts catalog that's the size of a phone book. You'll need to hunt it down, which is the fun part for some of us.

Something else to keep in mind: In the long run it's almost always cheaper to buy one that has been finished. A restoration is a labor of love, in doing a resto there's definitely the benefit in knowing what was done and how it was done, as well as the satisfaction of seeing it through and having a finished car that is just like you want.