The regulatory environment and culture of safety that surrounds aviation (military or otherwise) is a remarkable achievement. The complexity of the systems involved is far beyond the capacity of any single human being, even if one aspect of it seems simple or obvious to one observer.

Every time I fly I am happy to have my tax dollars support that framework, even if it occasionally (or frequently) results in unnecessary "red tape." What's the phrase - "procedures only work if you follow them"?

Absolutely true. I can't even imagine how ridiculously skewed the results must be because of this effect. For example, how many slashdot users would even look at an e-mail saying "SPAM SURVEY. CLICK HERE!!" or respond to an analogous phone call?