Winco
You make some very valid points but I fear the 'rot' sets in far earlier than you suggest. Perhaps with career orientated sqn cdrs (and to some extent flt cdrs) who have the "not on my watch" mentality for it is they who feed the information to the CS and the airships. On my first GR1 tour I watched the colour drain out of the sqn cdrs face when the AOC ordered him, and his execs, out of the crew room so that he could have an honest chat with the sqn junta on what was good and what was bad. Of course, whether the AOC actually took any of it on board or was just undertaking a
PR exercise who knows!
And then there are those who say one thing to those below them but report something completely different up the chain of command. Bit like the days of the truly confidential report when the verbal debrief and the written report may be at opposite ends of the spectrum!