Like Chimpy (regards from the TRI who called you 'Jim', btw!), I post here less frequently these days. However, Crab, I have to say that I don't think you realise just how different internal security in NI (not really SH, and having worked various different sides of several fences I feel qualified to pontificate) was/is from a theatre of war. By an order of magnitude, probably.
Yes, there were bombings, shootings and even the odd RPG popped-off in UK territory. Mortaring was a genuine threat too. Occasionally. In most cases the perpetrators were known, even tracked, but could only be countered iaw RoE which were appropriate to actions in support of the police.
You say:
I do appreciate the intensity of the threat faced by the SH force in Afghan
- but I really don't think you do. The sheer volume of the threat (numbers, weapons, capability) faced by SH in Afghanistan (and Iraq), plus the rapidity of threat development as the opposition learned from their (and our) mistakes simply dwarves anything we 70s-90s heli drivers ever faced. Your ability to pop back to the mess after hours, or out to Maud's for ice-cream or even downtown Lisburn/wherever for a trip to the supermarket/cinema/pub indicates a totally different level of commitment to the conflict on both sides. PIRA/INLA and others generally liked to live to fight another day; not necessarily the case in recent conflicts.
You feel that your early exposure to non-yellow helis entitles you to make a judgement on what SH crews have faced. I strongly disagree, and find that
but getting shot at and then flying home isn't necessarily what I (and possibly a few of my generation) would consider deserving of such a high award
doesn't go anywhere near what people I have worked with had to face, let alone get written-up for. Your final comments have a whiff of 'damning with faint praise'. Not your finest submission, IMNSHO.