Tres perceptive Evalu8ter. And in response to tucumseh's last paragraph in post 5, unfortunately the politico-military organisation isn't designed to learn, which is why we're consistently such an easy target for the experienced industrials. At the top we have a transitory political leadership who would rather win votes today at the cost of equipment and expenditure tomorrow, while from the bottom upwards we've nurtured a culture of transient 2-year appointees, who lack the experience but more worryingly the willingness to say "I don't know".
I would describe our current organisation as an 'Axis of Easy' - fcuk me, that's inspired!