Good evening Mike,
I have skimmed this thread so may have missed much. If I repeat what has been written previously, or have misunderstood your concerns, I apologise.
The Military exist to protect the UK and UK interests (e.g. food and material supply routes). To do so requires not just equipment, but also skilled, trained, able people.
To train, one must train in a fashion that could be considered useful in a conflict situation. This is why it is useful to be able to fly through valleys, fly at low level, fly in formation etc.
If not skilled the Military persons might not live long, lose the piece of kit they have or many other nasty things. By doing this, they are not protecting the UK, or UK interests, just wasting their lives and some rather expensive kit.
There is some use for training over the sea, but not if the conflict is occurring over a desert, a mountain, or Europe like countryside.
Military life does have more hazards than your average civilian job. After all, how many other jobs is there someone trying to shoot you, blow you up, murder you etc? To reduce the big, big risk of definitely being killed you carry out training that is relevant, and has a fairly low risk element - such as flying down valleys when you are not being shot at.
Now for air displays; the purpose for displays is many fold. These include: -
- Assists with recruitment by inspiring people
- Lets tax payers see equipment and skills of trained persons
- Provides the tax payer and the media with a small insight as to what the Military do
- Allows foreign nations see skills and equipment. This may comfort allies and deter potential foe
- Engenders esprit de corps within the military. This is something that is particularly important as each persons life does depend on how well each person works within the team
- Aerobatics may also prove useful to save your life or a team members life. After all dog fights are a form of aerobatics
I have missed gosh knows how many other reasons for air shows, but hopefully you may have a small comprehension as to why air shows exist, and why the Military must train as they do.
One thing I should mention is the increased safety over many years. Yes aircraft have incidents at air shows , yet being at an air show does not significantly increase the risks. After all AF Flight 447 wasn't at an air show, yet 228 souls died. The Teneriefe KLM disaster killed 583. They weren't at an air show either.
If you really wish to reduce the number of "deaths" I would take a look at other matters that include starvation, poverty, war, crime, corruption. Take as much interest in these topics and you could potentially save a lot more lives.