Gents
Reading this thread with interest. A few years ago I was posted to the Ministry of Daftness as a Sqn Ldr and ended up as Customer 1 for 3 programmes - all of which were "in trouble". Very early on I had to attend a meeting at Wyton - which was a bunch of civil servants (some very senior) chaired by a RN 3 star. I sat "on the sidelines" for about 3 hours until one of the senior civil servants stood up and briefed one of my projects as "in the green" (using that bloody awful traffic light system). At that point I felt compelled to stand up and tell the Admiral that the previous speaker had, at the very least, been disingenuous! Wow, how unpopular was I - but it needed to be said. Interestingly enough, I had not seen that civil servant - or his minions at any meeting I had with the company (EDS) responsible since I had taken over as Customer 1 (sorry Bob B). So, it's not always the Service blokes that are responsible!
