What happened is that when I started, it was your kind of soldiering, Ruperts and Ranks. When I finished, the Red Fog of War doctrine was everywhere, aftermath of NI, and when I came back again ten years later, it was well entrenched: you were starting to get Platoons given to Sergeants, and that's now common. You were in an unusual unit and given more initiative than most at the time, in the line units the move went from ORs who only ever did as they were told to ORs who had to think, which was tough on the middle ranks, the Corporals who'd only got there because of LSGC (yes, I know, undetected crime), their cards were marked before they'd get to retirement. These days, you've got a criminal record, you won't even get into the TA, because basic ethics are a must: in the 60s, you talked ethics and you'd get some funny looks from those who didn't think it was the fun place sahf of Suffuck.
The worst offenders, of course, went to Toulouse, where they had a complete identity change. The funniest one of those I ever came across was Colonel Bastard of the French Foreign Legion, who'd made it to a Staff Grade. From his accent he was originally a Jock...