TRSS,
You may think that it is bull****, but that won't change the way that HMG works. The efforts of staff officers to get results within a framework of what they know is achievable is not "muddled thinking"; it is realpolitik. The idea that these guys are some breed of headquarters-dwelling pseuds is simply a fallacy. The chances are that immediately prior to their time in Whitehall they were in a command tour on an operational unit, and have first-knowledge of all the problems. They will expect to go back to these same units and want to see them equipped and managed as well as can be achieved. "Staffing" is not a self-serving headquarters process, it is how every single decision in the MoD is reached. It is only a parochial name for the same kind of managerial research that takes place in every organization before decisions are taken (except perhaps in RBS). There is good and bad staffwork and much of the good work never comes to fruition because of budgetary issues, but to simply dismiss "staffing" as an anachronistic concept is quite wrong. Diligent staff work is the only method by which the Treasury can be persauded to part with taxpayer's money. If you want to revolutionize the HMG processes you need start by becoming a big player in national politics, because that would be the level of clout required. I am not endorsing these practices, but am simply defending those who have to work within them.
To go back to the detail of the debate, I cannot see the point of MoD aquiring it's own fleet of 10 civilian operated "vanilla" transport aircraft. It would have no impact on the operational airbridge and would offer nothing that could not be achieved by chartering from the the likes of, as you say, Globespan. If the aircraft cannot go into theatre what would be the point of the investment?
I think this debate needs some perspective. Yes, the airbridge can be a painful experience for the user, costing them valuable days of R&R. But ultimately it is only an inconvinience, whereas other issues actually kill people. Snatch Landrovers are costing lives. Lack of SH costs lives. Nimrod airworthiness has cost lives. These are the problems that really do require the urgent application of precious MoD resources.