At the other end of the calendar, who remembers when they stopped (or morphed into whatever they called "desert training days"). I left in 2003 and based my dining out speech around a piss take of old style tacevals etc and it went down rather well.
They had already started when I arrived Kinloss in 76 and I guess they had mostly stopped after the Cold War ended circa 90.
Seriously though, they were one of the more absurd aspects of service life for a decade or so - endless opportunities for playing the system and having some fun - but also a major ball ache for anyone with a life.
****ing hated them personally, not just because of the buggeration factor, but mainly because they were so childishly pathetic and clearly just an appraisal exercise for the staish. But hey, you gotta take the rough with the smooth.