I do believe that whippersnapper is merely repeting the ideas of as former Minister of Defence, a certian Mr Hesaltine.
Having never been a lover of the Tories but then again , even less of a Blairite, Tarzan was on the ball.
For the money in and the service out, The Crabs are not really that cost effective. However, given the choice of a landaway destination I always preferred a crab station as there was transport on tap, someone to polish your helmet after a flight and
an Officers mess with a high standard of accomodation.
Of course, all these factors greatly contribute to the pubescent services ability to conduct offensive operations a consideraqble distance from home bases divorced from 5 star facilities....NOT.