Nige - Yes to all of your Qs - been out there yourself recently, or have your ex flight mates been giving you access to material that you should no longer have access to - I'm sure that there is something in the OSA regarding this sort of thing!
The SoS made the decison to fit the foam after the pres of the BOI had briefed him on the likely cause of the crash. At that time, JR the SoS decided that all C130s in op theatres should get it and was recently very pissed off that no progress had been made following his quite clear direction.
Get your facts straight.