In the early 1970s at an RAF station in Germany where the based recce squadron's senior flight commander is a very young (sub-30 year old) Sqn Ldr who is obviously going places. He has just come from a ground tour and insists that everyone in the Squadron and the RIC (although it is not part of the Squadron) wear blue badges with their name engraved in white. This does not go down well with the newly arrived Army element who request where in Army dress regulations it mentions name badges. The discussion bats backwards and forwards for months with the Army holding out.
Matters come to a head one morning when the senior flight commander is walking to his aircraft (this is pre-HAS era so they are all lined up outside with attendant ground crew of all ranks) with his nav in tow. He espies one of the Army SNCOs on his way to work without a name badge. Unbeknown to the flight commander, this SNCO has done the All Arms Drill Course at Pirbright and can turn it on and off at will. The following exchange then followed:
Senior Flight Commander: "Ssgt X where is your name tag?"
Ssgt X braces up, marches across to senior flight commander, halts and salutes in a way that would have made his Guards instructors very proud..
Ssgt X: In finest Guards parade ground voice: :"With the deepest respect, in the Army, the senior officers KNOW their SNCOs, SIR" with a gap between SNCOs and SIR, that conveys a message.. This is followed by a pace to the rear, salute, right turn and march off.
Squadron Boss who has heard this exchange, leans out of his office window and says "There is no answer to that, (senior flight commanders name)!"