I am not sure that what posters here expect on leaving the service is in, fact, reasonable. I served for 36 years and was quite happy to retire with no expectation of anything but the satisfaction of knowing that those years had been well spent.
Problem is that all those who serve are the RAF and after many years of service those you serve with are still serving - they are not your employers who might be suitably grateful but fellow employees, if you like, and all you should expect is the normal party with your mates to celebrate your departure from them.
We serve(d) not as servants of an employer or of a company owned by grateful shareholders but as servants of the nation. How do you expect the nation to express itself when you leave apart from paying your pension?