Firstly, Wyler - Well done for having the balls to call a spade a spade.
Secondly, SRENNAPS - If by "your crown", you mean promotion from Sgt to Flt Sgt, after 28 years, then I share your disdain. You must have had 3 reasonable pay hikes, roughly one every decade, though I suspect you must have been a Sgt for more than 10 years. That's just crazy. How can the service hope to retain someone, offering such dismal career progression? I understand it is much the same for Flt Lts, too.
Thirdly, nigegilb - You hit the nail on the head for me. I'm one of the 1000 a day, and I haven't looked back. No sickening attacks on poppy sellers here.
The military I joined was in the Cold War. OK, I am a dinosaur. But the military is what kept the Playstation generation from being part of a glass car park. No ragheads gobbing off in Parliament Square in my day. No London Boroughs banning the flying of the Union Flag on the basis it might "upset the community". No homosexuals permitted in the military. Trains got maintained. Military hospitals used spare capacity to help the local community. Not the other way around.
As an Army radio tech, I was surprised one day to see a price sticker on a coax connector, 10 pounds. Next month, the next batch turned up. Same NSN, same manufacturer, price was now 50 pounds. FOR THE SAME PART! Now, I didn't change these things because I liked the job, frankly it was a pain in the arse. If, however, the coax cable needed a new end, I changed it. It was most certainly not a financial decision, rather one of need. As the guy doing the job, I don't give two hoots whether the connector costs 500 pounds. Some of them did! DEFENCE HAS A COST!!! Define the requirement, then pay the bill. Not the other way around.
To all those leaving, I say good luck to you. To those still in, even more luck. Keep my Mum safe please. You are all that will, the Government won't.