Wrath, hear hear!
I am struggling to think (but will no doubt soon be reminded) of one 'joint' outfit in which all parties have got, or retained, everything they wanted / wished.
This joint idealism isn't even working within the coalition government so Tory/Lib ministers know exactly why SDSR has now driven the biggest wedge between brown, dark blue and light blue in history - well done, perfect legacy Mr Cameron et al. By severely limiting our resources, attacking our future wealth (pensions, Service benefits) and, now, seemingly forcing our most senior heads of Service (1SL) to change their honestly-held opinions as professionals, they undermine and erode the very fabric and morale of our fighting forces. It's bad enough that we have to kill and be killed at the Government's whim overseas for a cause that changes with the winds; it seems we now must also fight just as fiercely with each other when at home via pathetic letter writing campaigns which seemed to be aimed at the other services rather than the ministers themselves.
Time will tell if the Government really got SDSR wrong or not. What doesn't help is the sheer amount of unfocussed, wasted drivel going on between our armed forces on forums such as these. Sniping and jibing to justify past decisions by saying 'this platform is better because of x' and the subsequent tirade of excrement that normally follows does NOTHING for anyone. We need to pull together, stop smacking each other around and put coherent arguments forward to the people that can change these things; the politicians. If the Government still refuses to listen then at least the British public will have one message on what the entire military think, instead of thinking we're all a bunch of idiots incapable of getting on with each other.