ER, a very warm welcome to this thread and thanks for your memories of the mob! It is very interesting to attempt to put a timeline on this story. My experiences go up to 1973, and I just cannot relate to the contemporary picture of the RAF in this Forum. I see that in your case all was well into the 70's so it would seem that things changed for the worse in the last 25 years. If others confirm this, perhaps we can relate administrative changes to the RAF in that time to see what really did the damage. I don't think myself that officers were suddenly minded to forget their duty and just look after number one. It is my belief that many found the former less and less possible to do and the latter more of a necessity for the good of their careers. Perhaps some of them could comment? In any event if that is essentially the case it is not only unacceptable, but unsustainable as well. The RAF isn't the CS in uniform that operates aircraft. It is a fighting service that will, indeed sadly does, sustain casualties. To do that and prevail it must have an esprit de corps, which requires high morale and discipline, which in turn requires every officer and NCO to do their duty, not only to those who command them, but to those who they command. It has to get to grips with the despond that it appears to be in the grip of. The fact that it is engaged in war now only makes that need more urgent. I put my two penneth as to what should be done in earlier posts, but may be way off the mark. But as it is said "now is the time for all good men....etc"!