CDS visited Ocean after attending the opening of the Muscat Opera House. The visit to Ocean was coincidental and only lasted an hour before CDS went onwards to the UK. The RN have a very efficient media team therefore much was made of the visit however most of the praise that day was directed at HMS Ocean and not the Apache contingent.
What I find remarkable is that FB feels that the Op ELLAMY contribution by the RAF was overshadowed by this CDS visit. Every strike shown by the media had a RAF banner attached and the MOD website was largely saturated with RAF media representation. I can only remember 2 media clips showing AH engagements after nearly 30 missions.
Single service pettiness is not at all helpful during these fiscally challenging times. We should protect capability and the resultant effect across the 3 services. It should be remembered that the fast air and AH capability and effect are different without competing budgets.
Let us not self-destruct from paranoia.