Regarding the thread title, I came across it in many forms. Two events that stand out in my memory:
1. A former RAF avionics/instrument technician (probably using the wrong term there) came to work for us at an RN 3rd line workshop after serving 9 years, doing a stint in Saudi, and then as an air university tutor. The civil service (or perhaps just the RN part of it) refused to recognise his RAF qualifications. He was told to go to college to get at least an ONC, when everyone knew he had far more than that. He enrolled, went back 9 months later to sit his exams, and got a Distinction. Ended up quite senior, and remains a good friend.
2. In April 1992, Air Member Supply and Organisation, in furtherance of their 'savings at the expense of safety' policy (see Nimrod Review) issued an edict that forthwith all engineers would be subordinate to any administrative grade. This was just as all MoD(PE)'s airworthiness specialists had been transferred to AMSO. A young lady 3 grades below me phoned to say she was now my line manager. My boss dealt with it best. He tasked Llangennech to deliver a complete set of APs for the RAF radars he managed (Phantom, Bucc...) to the equally young supplier who was now his boss, and told her to get on with it, she was running the Blue Parrot reliability upgrade programme. Meanwhile we all shipped out back to PE, with DGSM saying good riddance. I never really saw any improvement after that, with (in 1997) non-engineers allowed to self-delegate airworthiness approval. RIP those they killed.