Smiter,
I guess, if you've been reading about Sunderlands, then I was on the same sqn as you, many years ago now. We have gone wrong for a very simple reason, and one which is quite easy to remedy, and its this;
We no longer have any leaders from about Sqn Ldr level upwards, who have the balls to say 'NO'
I remember when I was on 201 Sqn, during a hard winter, OC Eng came into the crewroom and saw a handful of knockers and others sat around doing not a lot. He decided therefore that he would 'order' us all to go out on the pans and start clearing the snow by hand. Understandably, there was quite a lot of moaning and whinging, but after some harsh words from OC Eng, we all wandered out to the pan, only to be met by a certain Wg Cdr PP (OC 201) who aksed where we were all going?? After we told him, he ordered us all back into the Sqn and collared OC Eng on the way back, and proceeded to give him a full scale bollocking, infront of us all, terminating with 'I command 201 Sqn, NOT you, so F%£& off and leave my guys alone' Do you think for a nano-second that would happen today? Not on your life it wouldn't.
The fact is that all senoir officers are now solely concerned with their own ar$es, and take the view that 'if I don't make a decision, then I can't make the wrong one' Sad and pathetic I know, but thats the way it is.
TSM