On one memorable occasion my skipper was sick before take off and slept soundly for the next 4 hours. We had absolute faith in our copilot and departed Goose as scheduled. The Det Com was no doubt aware of our skipper's inebriation though he had help it well until we opened the door and handed the evidence to the groundcrew.
We knew our flight was one of the highest profile ones featuring in the CinCs morning brief. At the very least cancellation would have led to a hats on with the AOC. NO one blabbed and he got away with it. As BEatle said, different times, madness.I
On my first sqn we had an alcoholic; it was the security service that withdrew his clearance that grounded him. We had another in Cyprus, just before BEagles time, who had DTs. No sanctions. And another in the early 80s who chewed Amplex and sprayed breath freshener before getting in to work.
Hard rules set for punishment rather than medical he!p.