Pug,
Now you've started it!
How many aircrew in JFH were ever fully night deck qualified.....almost none. How many RAF SOs thought they could fly to a deck with no practice and got it wrong?
As far as I am aware there are roughly the same number of CAWs as there are CVNs. The JFK CAW sails with the ship and returns with it, no swapping. The USN look in disbelief at the "hop on, hop off" RAF philosophy. All aircrew lose some currency when deployed away, including the RN rotary chaps. But that is why training opportunities with allies are programmed, flights disembark abroad for GFP etc and they have a swept up deployable training team. The QEC will have at least one F35 sim built into the ship.
The RN E of Suez activity is a result of Govt policy not because they ((the RN) want it. SDSR is a Govt document signed off by the NSC not a military one. It says be expeditionary - no brainer that the RN argues for world-wide deployability. In addition it is much better to train in the region where you may be reqd to fight so you know the people and conditions. No point in practicing ASW in the N Atlantic if the threat is in the Indian Ocean, Gulf and further East. Don't forget the greatest threat is to our sea lines of communication from whence 95% of our oil and goods arrive.
Presumably the 1* Gp system is rusticating to make way for the MoD staffs under CAS to rusticate to HW next year.
Way off thread but now off my chest!