yes and banter in the armed forces is good,
it goes something like inter department rivally then inter ship then inter service then inter nation! but at he end of the day you stand next to the bloke you just been scrapping with and share a pint or 2 and ask how did that start lol!!
Oh, this is so true!
Ex-RAF here, Air Communications, and latterly Avionics Tech. We were called fairies by other trades! We were equally disdainful of sooties and riggers etc, although on helicopters, riggers were in the majority and so had an unfair advantage in numbers.
Whilst in Germany, I served on a Puma helicopter squadron on a base that also had a Chinook and two Harrier squadrons. The Harriers were 3, and 4(F) squadrons. "F" standing for "Fighter". We used to call ourselves 230(F) squadron in a piss take of that Harrier squadron. Some called us "half-past-two" squadron.
And the RAF looked upon squaddies as little more than walking sand bags, and the less said about the Navy the better!
I'm sure Robbie and others will tell you what they thought of us!
And there were always, of course, "those bloody Yanks". Couldn't help but be impressed by their sheer military might if you visited one of their bases though.
And the banter between Scots, Irish, Welsh, English and those who originated from other countries within our own services - well, even then it would have seemed extreme to outsiders*, but banter is all it was, and we all worked, played and drank together on good enough terms - most of the time!
So has it always been...
Otoh, just for balance, when in Germany one of my best mates was on 3 sqn (he had a GSXR1100, I had my FZR1000), and another one I used to drink with a bit was a squaddie based there - I had never met anyone else with such a wide knowledge of military history at the time!
*You know, thinking about it, I think that's one reason I like the biking world so much (
generally speaking of course!). There is much of that same kind of banter. Maybe it has something to do with that thing about the black sense of humour which comes from being in a community who have a level of danger involved in what they do? I've never been a mountaineer/climber (perhaps in the next life), but I'll bet it's the same within their 'ranks'.