I see this thread has broadened out quickly from the OP's pre-occupation with the CAS. I have always felt that the structure of the RAF is its Achilles Heel. Unlike the other two Services which evolved over time to provide a command structure that served their purposes, the RAF was designed from the get go, and the purpose it served was to be politically controllable so that its very existence was approved by a government that wanted more bang for its buck. That worked out well then, didn't it? The result is that leaders, rather than managers, aren't needed much outside of the station gates. The need is simply for managers to man the various levels of the pyramid. Of course they are given impressive titles to suggest otherwise; Air Officer Commanding, Air Officer Commanding -in-Chief, etc, but in reality they are managers, and like all managers, pave their way to the top not by leadership but by plunging knives into the backs of their competitors and/or dreaming up 'good ideas' that no-one else had bothered with. Nothing new there, think 'Big Wings'...
The real Royal Air Force has always been behind those Station Gates, particularly in times of total war. When it was massively expanded it naturally threw up many more leaders which went on to fill the pyramid. The likes of Mickey Martin and Gus Walker that my generation was fortunate to serve under. The dross took over quickly enough though, and normal service was resumed. I know this is all broad-brush generalisation and massively unfair to those Air Officers who dedicated their lives to the RAF rather than themselves, but the system was against them and is now to all intents and purposes bust. What needs to be done to fix it is beyond me. I prefer smaller fish to fry, the reform of UK Military Airworthiness and Accident Investigation by making them both independent of the MOD (and all those RAF Air Officers) and of each other. RAF VSOs have heavily compromised the airworthiness of all UK Military Aircraft and are now it seems setting out to compromise the crews that man them. Goering could not have wished for more!