18 yrs ago, I was an 18 year old sprog just arriving at Cranwell. 93000 people in the Service, great ethos, work hard play hard, limited red-tape and significant motivation. A handful of significant conflicts since WWII.
Since then:
Closures - Gutersloh, Wildenrath, Bruggen, Laarbruch, Finningley, Binbrook, North Luffenham, Wroughton, Ely, Turnhouse, Chivenor, Brawdy, Swinderby, Carlisle, Machrihanish, Deci etc etc.
Major actions: GW I, GW II, Ops Deny Whatever, Afghanistan, Balkans (various), Sierra Leone.
Manning: 53000 soon to become 35000(ish) or less.
Regardless of politics or even rationale, it's no longer the RAF I joined.