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Originally Posted by Eddie
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I've got to admit, I completely agree with almost all of that. I take exception to the suggestion that our officers and NCOs were laying down on the job - the very fact that every member of the Flight could be relied upon to know what he needed and to make sure he had it with him kind of gives me the impression that actually, they had done their jobs well. That, and the fact that they were all, without exception, long service professionals who, in my opinion, led us well and took good care of us.
On the other hand, as I have tried to make clear throughout all of this, different units, different branches of service, and different countries have different ways of doing things. I suspect that the squadron I served with (a ceremonial unit renowned for attention to detail) differed drastically from, say, II Sqn (our airborne unit). And the RAF Regiment differs from the Army infantry, just as the British forces as a whole differ from the US.
For us, it worked. For others, it may not. And in the end, it's all about effectiveness. By treating us as adults I like to think that we behaved like adults. In some units, or for some individuals, that approach may not work, so you use one that does. I'm sure my next tour, with a different squadron, will be vastly different from my last one, and, as always, I'll improvise, adapt and overcome.