Al,
I just don't know, you may well be right. As my old colonel used to remind me, the Army equips its men, the RAF mans its equipment. I just think that the Army is a lot better at looking after its people than we are, and the issue of honours and awards is but one manifestation of that.
Alternatively, when you look at the various lists, the RAF awards often seem to be dominated by the upper levels in both the officer and SNCO cadres unlike the Army where you see a decent sprinkling of awards and MBEs right the way across the ranks. Maybe the RAF takes the view that until you have some time in and reached a senior level you haven't achieved sufficiently to be recognised. Maybe there's someone keeping score in Manning and once you hit a cumulative number of points you get your gong? "We couldn't possibly give Bloggs an award, he's an absolute muppet - last year must have been a fluke!"
Who knows, as with many areas of RAF life, there is little transparency in the logic or thinking making it very difficult to assess.
Last edited by Melchett01; 15th Nov 2014 at 19:23.