Re: Federation?
Sensationalism apart I think the idea has a great deal of merit.
On the one side the boys and girls would have a recognised body to address their concerns to apart from - dare I say it - Pprune! This would allow the Service to have instant access to information on what's causing the troops to allegedly 'leave in their droves', without having to pay a consultant to tell them the bleeding obvious! More sensitive trends could be dealt with in-house without the need for the Sun et al to fish for headlines here.
Inclusion of a non-strike clause would keep everyone happy, but a federation would also be able to speak for the masses on pay, conditions etc. With a small membership fee it could even fund itself so it's a win-win!
This of course presumes anyone gives a stuff - to which the evidence is leaning (no pun intended) to 'not'.