long time lurker, first time poster. for those of you that are no longer serving, are significantly above the "coal face" or are otherwise on the periphery I would like to contribute my two penneth... things have never been so bad morale-wise. and not in the "another weekend sdo" "but I've never really wanted to do the c course" or "shouldn't we get paid more" way they have ever been. the rot has truly set in spurred on in my opinion by widespread contractorisation (and its work to rule offshoots), worsening and lengthening deployments, non-optional fundamental changes to return of service and chronic fear of budgets, risk aversion and political correctness in senior officers. make absolutely no bones about it - with very, very, few exceptions everyone in the jo cadre has considered, if not planned, an exit strategy. in my opinion it is about one full tour away from collapse. the litmus test for me is the number of sqn uncles/pa spiners/3rd & 4th tourists packing up shop with very little notice in the very recent past having been tipped over the edge by things that are, in isolation, minor but are the proverbial straw to the camel's back. when young(ish) fg offs and flt lts see these guys check out via the junta office they start wondering whether they want to be in that position in 20 years time or whether one of the, now numerous, alternatives are a better answer.