Spent a number of years working on defense and space contracts not directly to the government but as a 3rd party (customer we sold to had the defense/space contract with the government). Lots of paperwork for sure however it's understandable. If a plane crashes or a rocket blows up, there's not much physical evidence that can be searched for the reason of the failure so paper trails and traceability is important.
True story, when I worked on gyroscopes we had the stereotypical black SUVs with tinted windows show up one day. Apparently a rocket that was supposed to put a satellite in orbit blew up after launch. Many millions of $ were lost. Literally 3 SUVs and 6 people from the government showed up unannounced to gather our build records on some gyroscopes we made. It was an all day affair. Need to supply them soup to nuts of everything that went into that product. Months later it was ultimately determined that it wasn't a gyroscope problem.
As HockeyDad said, dot the I's and cross the T's and be sure that any paperwork that you sign off on is accurate. If it has your name and/or initials on it, you are putting your reputation on the line if issues come up. I took that seriously and would be willing to back up my sign offs on any paperwork.
I worked with the FDA crap too at another job. Again, I was willing to back up anything that I singed off and I took it seriously. I hated the FDA stuff. Incredible amount of paperwork but again, I understood. The things we made were going into peoples bodies (from infants to elderly) and shouldn't be taken lightly. If it fails, my name is on the paperwork and my name, my integrity, my reputation, and even legal personal liability is on the line.
