Skunk,
I had given up on this but your refreshingly balanced post deserves a reply.
I would wholeheartedly agree that RAF basic training is not, in my opinion, nearly taxing enough (hopefully this is being addressed). Specialist training, however, is invariably more testing and is where aspirants generally wash-out – especially for the flying cadres.
As for space – tell me where the atmosphere stops!? As a forward thinking force, we must recognise that in the future there will be an increasingly blurred division between air and space capabilities.