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I'm in no doubt you are right.
However, was the Royal Air Force ever envisaged to have it's highly trained personnel do drill?
OK, I'll go for the basic marching from mess to hangar stuff, to get a body of men from scoff to fixing/flying aircraft. We all learned that cr@p in basic training.
The fact is the RAF is not the Brigade of Guards, it was never designed to be, we don't do 'public duties' a la Household Division. (QCS excepted, and they are volunteers, and bloody good too).
The whole point of this thread is to get someone to explain how (when the RAF is engaged in combat on two fronts; morale being at rock bottom; professionally trained people PVR'ing in droves; money and equipment being unavailable etc etc) the cost of this beanfeast is justified.
I'm all in favour of pomp and circumstance in it's place. But given the choice between a Silken Banner or a serviceable (and airworthy) aircraft, I know which I would choose.