“...What baffles me though is that our defence budget is the 2nd highest (I’m told) after the US, yet our personal kit issue is 3rd world standard....”
Perhaps you are overpaying for your kit?
Well, most of it comes from the US, so with the exchange rate as it is, surely it must be cheaper for us ;-)
The main morale downer is the poor personal kit that we’re issued. I buy most of my own personal kit.