What message is that? The UK's Defence problem is indeed the MOD of course. It costs us all a far higher percentage of our GDP than most other countries. In return we, or more exactly our Armed Forces, get so little back. Easy of course to blame the Senior Civil Servants there, they deserve much of the opprobrium agreed, but I thought that the passing reference to the "Service Chiefs" was rather too little in both the blame and opprobrium stakes.
What Service this "middle ranking" officer is in we don't know, and it may well be that he and his fellow officers have no issue with those who serve in Main Building, but I do not know how that can be if he is in the Royal Air Force. The "Service Chiefs" of that Service, or to be more exact those of 2* Rank and above who have had responsibility for the provision of airworthy military aircraft over more than twenty years have either themselves given illegal orders to suborn the Airworthiness Regulations or cravenly obeyed them (which is also illegal of course). This has not saved money but wasted it, to the extent of not only needless accidents but even the premature loss of an entire fleet (and capability). Even more serious still was the needless loss of life, some 62 to date at least. If the explanation is "I was only doing my job", my reply would be, "Well no, you weren't!" The words stones and greenhouses came to mind I'm afraid as I listened, and I did pay attention OP, honest!