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"It's just the way it goes these days. They're doing a very hard job out there and we should all appreciate it."

Hats off to Lucy!

"Last night RAF bosses defended the ban as entirely appropriate, saying in a statement: "The Royal Air Force values and recognises the contribution of service personnel regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or social background.

"To this end, the RAF promotes working in an environment that is free from harassment and where personnel are respected both for the contribution they can bring to the team and the value and potential they offer as individuals."

First The RN and now The RAF.

Restrictions also apply to U.S. forces. Any U.S. aircraft transiting or stationed in a Muslim country in the Gulf will not carry potentially offensive nose art. No base commander is going to upset the host nation.

http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/militarynoseart/gulf3.htm

'During the Gulf War, sexually provocative art was removed before an aircraft was deployed to Saudi Arabia to avoid offending inhabitants of the area. Bikinis were painted over to became long black dresses. After the war, artists restored the images to their original state upon the request of the crews and pilots (Walker, More, p. 34).

After the Gulf War and after the wave of negative public opinion, the military ruled against portraying women on aircraft. Nose art was removed from all 319th Wing and 384th aircraft in 1992. On the "Queen of Hearts," the name remains without an image.

Painting an image requires a more formal procedure today than fifty years ago. The crew submits its idea to the crew chief, who presents the design to the wing commander for approval (Ethell, p. 173). Crews still derive a sense of pride and identification with an aircraft through its name and art. Given its past history, nose art, sanctioned or not, is bound to recur in one shape or another in the future.'