You lay blind in a perfect world. The reality is that in such a large organisation that intimate knowledge of all goings on is not possible. Nor is it sometimes appropriate. One man can only manage so many moving parts and his competent commanders must take responsibility for the lower echelon. The micro management required to look into the crew rooms of different Squadrons from your office in Canberra would be unwelcome and completely inappropriate.
The fact that an 'all is well message' is too often passed from the lower echelon through to command does not help the situation. Junior commanders are often reticent to send distress signals through to higher as this implies failure on their part.
Too many short sited individuals that are too worried about their next job and not concerned with the one they are in currently. It is all about the right impression and the Army is completely bound by the human condition and our quest for more. (Promotion / Status / Money.)
Houston is doing his level best to better a situation that he was blindsided into. The commanders of the offending Squadron were the largest perpetrators of the 'Cowboy" tendancies. If your commanders give you information you must trust their integrity. If that is in doubt then the game is lost. In this case there was some unthruths and there was some individuals that were blind to the dangers they were putting themselves in.
The culture had shifted within the unit to a point where these factors (droop, close calls, non-reporting to protect mates) had become accepted. The bonds and Esprit de Corp are very solid within this unit, mates looking after mates and this is very important to the job they do. It is risky and they do it well. They work hard for us all, it costs them their time, often their marriages and too often their mates. They are to be respected for that, but a time comes when outside mediation, controls need to be inforced. When you become insular, as they had, you become exposed to a shift in your acceptance of risk.
This cultural shift that was not checked by the commanders, but fuelled, led to accidents and incidents that should not have happened. The grief felt by the family that is this group of people is unmentionable. They are good pilots and good people who work to do their best at a great cost.
It is a shame that there is no one with the time or fortitude to stand up and slow it all down occassionally within the over taxed Army aviation capability. They are over tasked, undermanned, and getting more inexperienced as time goes on. The shift in civil industry is worsening this situation and I for one can't see a way forward for the capability.