TT2,
Quite correct - and I've certainly ridden my aircraft hard when required.
But.
The assumption is that if I fly within the SOPs/RTS, and make no heinous error of judgement, I will remain safe. What Tuc et al are alluding to is, in effect, the aviation equivalent of being Geoffrey Howe being asked to 'play cricket' with a broken bat. The apparent callous nature of certain VSOs in protecting themselves and their acolytes whilst all the time preaching 'leadership' is below contempt. Don't just use the above examples, for more evidence look at JATEU C130, SF C130 and Catterick Puma and witness VSOs 'pulling up the ladder' to shaft the junior/middle management whilst protecting themselves.
With great power comes great responsibility; either we need to nail an ex-VSO pour les encouragement des les autre or one needs to stand up and take one for the team; as Patton opined, it does the enlisted man good to see a dead general on the battlefield every now and then....