Things may have changed, but I suspect not.
The problem with the 'all stick' approach is that people get fed up and leave. Leadership, motivation and management cannot rely on the stick approach 365 days a year. If you have a retention and recruitment problem then the stick is counterproductive. This is especially true when families are involved.
Could not agree more. The problem is when lives become more complex with partners and families. The old 'you are a volunteer thus you are to do what you are told' might apply for operational detachments and training (and quite rightly, too), but is not a valid argument for tours that fundamentally change the world of those around you who
don't get a vote in things. The RAF has been hemorrhaging many experienced personnel who would like to stay in and indeed, serve abroad, but there is so little flexibility now with massively reduced numbers (roughly 1/3rd of the 1990 Establishment of 92,000) that assignments are faced with a binary option: go/no-go if no-go then leave.