I was on the parade and I must say that I have never read such a collection of ill-informed, whinging crap in all my life. Agreed, we should not have been there in the first place, but at the end of the day this is one of the things that we are paid for.
I am a SNCO with over 20 years service, and I am delighted that I will never be doing this again. However, it was certainly not the ball-ache which I thought it would be. Thanks to all from the EAW, caterers, DIs etc. From the point of view of the Standard Party, we were treated as adults at all times, and having done all the practice, we were delighted that the parade went ahead.
What really amuses/irritates me, is the number of SNCOs and Officers who were guests at the parade who did not have a chest full of medals. For example, saw a Flight Sergeant with only one medal - the chocolate Golden Jubilee Medal! Where have all these people been hiding? Perhaps this is the reason why so many people in the RAF are p*%%£d off. There is a two tier system in operation; those who do, and those who wimp off dets or live at Command
