I was at Bastion during Lt Col Tootal's tenure, and from a light blue perspective, he really did get air. Not only was he quick to stamp on the 'utterly utterly useless' comments, but he really did agonise on a number of occasions before requesting that air go in to places like Sangin and MSQ to pull his guys out.
If only there were more like him, air-land integration would be much easier.