I've just read all the posts in this thread and found
It may appear to be a small point to their Airships in their ivory towers, but to my mind, pride in the technical trades all but disappeared with the demise of the JT rank. Those who never wore the rank will simply not understand that an SAC badge with a circle does simply not engender the same spirit.
No more JT's - arrgh aargh aaargh I can't believe it!
Back in the day when I was a JO I was looking after a big flight of mechanics and technicians; boys and girls of all sorts of trades. One tradesman in particular stood out. He was the best engine technician I've ever met. He was a JT but he was chronically unable to pass the Corporal exam - when faced with an exam paper he just blanked. We coached him, we gave him mocks which he sailed through but come the day he just blanked again. Meanwhile he was designing procedures which improved the effectiveness of the Spey 202 by 25%.
We couldn't get him promoted, but when I was allocated one silver jubilee medal for my flight (of 120 tradespersons) I nominated him. He retired as a 55 year old JT with a medal on his chest,
Rgds SOS