Having been beyond the radar horizon for several days, I have just returned to the FIR and re-read this thread.
I knew this was going to be an emotive subject, judging by the banter which flies around every crew-room in the country. I thought long and hard before writing my original submission, and having done it I quickly convinced myself that I had done the wrong thing, even in this anonymous forum. Thankfully I now believe my fears were ill-founded.
Two things strike me: firstly, the majority of responses reflect a real desire at grass-roots level to identify the problems we face, and suggest ways to overcome these problems. They go beyond the superficial crew-room banter, and present well-thought out responses that our masters, military and political, would do well to heed.
Secondly, what is abundantly clear to me is the loyalty of our personnel. Some may say I was disloyal to write in the first place, and indeed it was to protect myself from those people that I chose to speak anonymously. However, it was my loyalty to the Services, and the desire to see an end to the degenerative spiral we are in, that prompted me. It is clear that this feeling is widespread.
We all know that the “wheels” have access to this forum, and no doubt some are looking on closely as this forum develops. All I say is please come down from your ivory towers. Your people want to show you as much loyalty as they have ever done, but they need loyalty from you in return. It may not be appropriate for you to reply in this forum, but for everyone’s sake, we need you to reply somewhere, soon. Time is ticking away…..