GA, welcome to the forum and thank you for your "maiden post". I will venture to reply, as one civilian to another, because the guys and gals that you addressed have been muzzled by an MOD new think initiative that answers to the name of "DIN", who says that they don't have a sense of humour? You write with a strong sense of outrage at the way you and your colleagues have been dragooned into new and unproductive ways, and I can empathise with your feelings of frustration and powerlessness that must engender. Consider therefore a similar process inflicted from above, over the heads of and against the protests of professionals, which results in not just frustration but dangerous life threatening outcomes of insufficient, outdated and un-airworthy aircraft to meet ever increasing operational demands in a worsening scenario, to be operated and maintained by fewer and less experienced people, as those before them vote with their feet. Town Halls may be places of low morale and poor support, but they are infinitely safer than "sandy places" suffering from the same neglect!