Adr,
Thanks for the info and insight into the civvy forum. Should PPrune grant us (mil aircrew) a private forum, I'm sure those using it would be mindful of the security of the site. You would hope mil ppl would be aware!
As to the withering effect of a private forum, I'm sure both would co-exist. It would be a common ground for the 3 services, if we were allowed separate service forums, and so anyone could contribute. Is airline recruiting affected by the privacy of their forums?