I should imagine the FJ flying I did over Afghanistan was probably very similar to a lot of the flying people did as part of WARDEN, Northern/Southern Watch etc.
The support package and kit is probably a million miles better, though. Despite the popular comments about under-equipped Brits, I couldn't believe the amount and quality of kit I was given for my first jaunt to war. No tents either, so while it wasn't quite GW1/Bahrain hotel levels of comfort, coming home to an air conditioned room with (limited) wifi, hot showers, an excellent gym, a coffee shop etc made going to Afghanistan a surprisingly bearable experience, compared to what people right out in the field manage with.
The jets, while they had the vast majority of kit they wanted and were being constantly upgraded, there were still a few things to cause frustrations. When I talk to some of the execs and PA guys, I get the impression that life on ops was broadly similar.
When I looked back at old squadron diaries, it all looked pretty similar. We did just as much drinking at happy hour and dining-in nights, but a lot less during the week.
Smudge and others, what stuff seems foreign to you now? What stuff is hard to relate to?