OK Training Risky, I will bite...
Firstly, your conclusion that 'only comments that agree with the OP and his perceived wisdom are allowed' has either been drawn out of thin air (trolling, as it's better known) or you have simply misunderstood what I wrote. My point was that the thread had degenerated into personal criticism of individuals who can't easily answer back and then turned into a discussion about campaign medals - and that last dimension really is irrelevant. And anyone who posts on here will know well that you can hardly expect everyone to agree with you; I am sure we can agree on that.
As for your assertion that the good Wg Cdr has had the same hill to climb as every other sqn cdr, I am afraid you are well wide of the mark. For example, ten years ago I had working for me a very competent junior officer who had been a CR nav on an FJ sqn and who had decided she would no longer deal with the casual and often deliberate misogyny she faced on a daily basis both from her sqn 'mates' and the execs. She left the RAF quietly. I could never understand why she chose not to persist with a complaint as she had a cast-iron case for an industrial tribunal - she just said it was not worth the aggro, she did not want to bring disrepute on the Service or put other women off joining, but hoped that things might be a little bit better for those who came next.
I could also point you towards another very capable female officer (aircrew...) working in the Joint environment who, despite being the most experienced and competent in post and role, was consistently ignored in favour of any other male officer of the same rank when it came to deputising for their boss. But that was as recent as 2014 so probably doesn't count. And it is perhaps best not get into the question of dual standards and parity of treatment when it comes to social faux pas over the years. The hill is only the same if you ignore the environment, which means ignoring the gender issue - not something the attitude surveys indicate is warranted at the moment.
Bringing gender into the debate does not mean I think women should be treated as special. Au contraire, Blackadder, I think they should be treated as equals. So do they - try talking to some of them. And until they are treated as equals you should not be surprised if there is media interest when one of them pierces a glass ceiling of any description. There won't be such a fuss when the next woman is selected for RAFAT, because it's already been done. Nor will there be national media interest in the second woman selected to command an FJ squadron. And for those young women thinking of joining the Service, they now know they can aspire to sqn command if they are good enough, and that having balls and campaign medals is no longer a pre-requisite.
And now, back off-piste - we haven't discussed the aircraft paint schemes yet.
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