During many years of dealings with them in the 80s and 90s I always found ASCOT Ops mostly harmless and usually pleasant. They were there to perform a political function, perpetuating the illusion that their airships at Why Hickham were exercising executive authority over all those damn truckers.
Conversations used to go something like:
'Hello Ops, this is ASCOT, I've blown a tyre in Ancona'
'Stand by ASCOT, . . . . ASCOT, from your operating Authority, you are to change the tyre'