Smudge,
the realities of modern service.
You really don't want to know the realities of modern service life, it would only make you weep.
This is the second time I have typed this out. The first time, by the time I got to the end I realised I couldn't post it as nobody would believe it. But to sum it up, the general thrust went along the lines of:
Ways and means are more important than ends. The Civil Servants, contractors and accountants have more say and more authority than many commanders, certainly below 1-star level. Red tape is the order of the day, so much so that you sometimes wonder if the politicians and civil servants are actually involved in some sort of bizarre denial of service attack on the military by bogging them down in policy, paperwork and email traffic.
In short, if you want a high flying career in today's military, skip Cranwell, Sandhurst or Dartmouth and join the Civil Service as an accountant or lawyer and get seconded to the MOD. The only thing pointy round here these days is the pot of pencils on the desk in J8 used to scribble 'denied' over bits of paperwork.
Edited to add - just read Easy Street's post - spot on!