The Canadians I saw didn't even salute the jet as it went out. WTF is with that?
On the topic of maintenance tradition, as someone that sees most career fields in the USAF and DOD and myself have been on more than a few deployments. I would say the big tradition you all have is absolute dedication to getting the job done. Sounds kinda corny but it's basically true. There is a lot of: you-would-rather-eat-dirt-than-let-down-your-team-mate stuff that I see all the time. Even if that person you would never want to let down is the person you do some of the worst trash talk.... relentlessly to, during the less busy times. You might even hate the guy, but more times than not, you aren't going to let them down when there is mission stuff going on. That seems like a tradition to me.