Focus on the argument not the person
Argus - you make a very good point about the staff at the recruitment fare (used in the sense of a journey - OCD refers) being indicative of overstretch. The list 1 Cpl was on his last tour; the Flt Lt had been brought back out of retirement. I am sure they are working very hard at recruiting quality graduates, but in a very competitive employment market the effort looked, well, down at heel. The RAF is a fine service which I have defended to the hilt in other threads, but it is a sad fact that it is subject to many of the same globalized pressures as other Capitalist enterprises.
After 20 years of service, the experience of academia is a refreshing and exciting change for me. No one can accuse me of having not done my duty; indeed I suspect that my service continues de facto as I am able to give my fellow post-grads a differing and extemporised perspective when discussing and analysing world events (ie I can bore them as well!) Future employment with an IGO will allow me to continue to make a contribution to IPS (international peace and stability) in a manner less constrained than being in uniform. No, by the way, I am not doing sociology and neither have my political beliefs changed significantly since being an undergrad over 20 years ago.
CC