Back in 1989, I was at a unit in Celle, Germany. We had an Aussie as Troop Commander and he called me into his office to let me know that he had marked my yearly appraisal “Outstanding”. This was one of the last opportunities I had to get promoted and so I was pretty happy with it, as you needed an Outstanding to have any chance. He then called me back in his office a couple of hours later to say he was sorry, but the Squadron Commander (who no-one liked) had decided that due to my age and experience, I should be outstanding and had therefore downgraded it to an “A”…needless to say, I didn‘t get promoted and it cost me dear pension wise…