limited eating as airmen run out of money
What a ridiculous, pompous statement to make. Do you really think that in this day and age that the junior ranks are so hopelessly bad with their money that they fail to save enough money every month to eat!?
What about those airmen that choose to live out privately in theie own homes? Do you suggest that they are made to come and eat in the mess also "just in case" they cannot afford to eat after managing their rent, council tax, electricity.....etc.
Some of these airmen are paid a better wage than junior officers, but do you think that we as officers are obviously far more sensible than the baldricks, and would never dream of being in such a position?
As has been previously stated in this thread, the reasons the messes are empty is because people are voting with their feet. For years, people (including airmen) have been buying their food elsewhere,
on top of paying mess charges, because they simply do not want to eat when they are forced to eat and do not want to eat the remains of lunch rehashed for dinner, and prefer the options that eating elsewhere gives.
Simply, now that people are no longer paying for meals they do not want, the obligation is no longer there to turn up and eat those meals, hence the messes are emptier.
a great part of Service life has been destroyed
IMHO the erosion of this great part of service life began with contractorisation.