Luckily the current Op environment has managed to quash a lot of the 'old boys flying club' mentality that existed prior to 2001! I'm all for it. The clue is in the title - Royal Air FORCE! Not fecking Virgin or BA - get a grip (literally) and don the PLCE bergans!!
Not sure that's Lyneham as I remember it before 2001. True, we weren't particularly good at the operational stuff but that's because we didn't do it that much, and all the squadrons are a great deal more 'combat ready' these days. I don't think things were as bad as you make out, unless you're talking from purely personal experience.....
Crew duty & other regulations are not options to be deployed when it suits, they are the rules as applied to our operations.
As for bergens, I shoulder mine everytime I deploy into theatre. If I happen to be fortunate enough to get a route to somewhere half decent in between detachments then my clothes come out less creased from a (Samsonite) suitcase than they will from an op bag or rucsac - not a particular consideration on Ops but who wants to look like a bag of s**t in a nice restaurant when I'm enjoying my JPA actuals meal?