Chook , just finished reading this post and other posts for the day. A few things seem fairly obvious , firstly your analogy the "competing tribes" is reasonably apt , but from my point of view the analogy that I would use is the "suckling pigs" with SAFECOM being the unwieldy fat(and getting fatter) sow lying on its side, while all the piglets (ESOs) are forced to compete for the nipple. Perhaps this competing/niggling between the services at our lower level is just a reflection of what we see higher up the food chain . Or maybe reading Charlottes Web as a child affected me?
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As for the rivalry/banter between the services, I believe it will always be there ,my advice is evaluate the negative comments ,discard the crap and use the rest to better your service delivery.
In working with other services at minor incidents, I find myself sometimes standing back and wondering ,why they do somethings a "different" way. But at you larger/campaign style incidents we all tend to sing from the same page and interservice harmony for the most part is excellent, dont forget the 6%ers though.
Now to your questioning of is the battle worth it! Thats for you to answer, but with just asking that question , I think you've already answered it.
My thought ,theres two forces at play here.
1 People that give you shite(us, we'd buy you a beer)
2 People that give you shite and no funds(them, back of the neck kissers)
Cheers Jaff