It has always been the same. Whenever I saw RAF personnel in swanky hotels, my goal was always to try and get my guys into those hotels, not try to get everyone into 2-man tents in the mud. As the famous quote goes, "any idiot can be uncomfortable". In this case trying to introduce a touch of Christmas Spirit definitely comes under the "providing comfort" category and this person's chain of command are either incredibly poor at the welfare and morale aspects of their job, or this is some terminally miserable bastard who needs euthanising - didn't see it so can't yet decide. Maybe he just had a letter from his wife saying she wasn't running off with another bloke.