Serving military on the trials teams were allowed a great deal of insight into the project and it was not unusual for project teams to ask for advice. On the large projects, the trials team often joined the project at the beginning.
I agree. On my last programme, the first thing I did was speak to the Service Appointer and arrange (at least) double tours. What was eventually the trials team, at least for the major mission systems, also sat in on original bid assessment and spec writing.