I have to agree with BEagle's sentiments regarding job satisfaction and think the criticism by nicecastle and chopabeefer misses his point. To take any satisfaction from the later years of TELIC, and anything on HERRICK, I contend that most choose to ignore the bigger picture and focus purely on their own (or their unit's own) contribution - and there is plenty of magnificent flying done by many who put themselves in harm's way day in, day out.
My own personal example would be the withdrawal of British troops from Basra Palace to the COB in 2007; at the time this was trailed as an 'important development in Basra's future' and a 'major strategic event', I worked very hard throughout it and my unit's part in its success was a source of much pride. Four years later we now know that it was actually a shabby deal, the aftermath of which did much damage to our reputation with both the Iraqis and the US. It takes time and detachment for such realisation to dawn and I think in a few years' time many of our brave, decorated RW pilots will wonder exactly why they and their passengers put themselves on the line in what (at the strategic level) has been nothing but a face-saving operation for the last 3 years. There are plenty of tactical victories to be proud of - but in the end, so what?
The unabated winning feeling "we kicked Saddam out of Kuwait" from 1991 hasn't really been repeated in any of the conflicts I've experienced since, which says a lot about our poor strategic direction (whether based on poor politics or poor military advice, the end result is the same). For a few weeks this spring the Libya operation provided a welcome positive buzz around the place - I reckon this will start to die off fairly soon unless some definitive direction emerges. We'll see!