And as one of the pratts at the purple palace, I have a very similar tale to Ted's.
Mention of NEC is usually accompanied by profanities, the questionning of the parentage of those who proclaim the virtues of NEC, reference to the technological marvel of BOWMAN, reference to 'no cash' , outbreaks of deep sarcasm etc, etc, etc.
IF you have the money, NEC is great. If you don't, it's merely the smokescreen behind which the Secretary of State for Defence can disguise defence cuts* while trying to claim that this is appropriate realignment of defence spending to invest in excting new technology that no-one outside the world of defence (i.e. 99% of the electorate) really understands.
(*I'm sorry, even if the funding has increased, losing four FJ units ahead of time, four army rgts and £1.1 Billion from the SH budget is a cut in my book!).