Detgnome - exactly what the SARForce commander wasn't allowed to do to because it may well have shown that privatisation wasn't the cheapest option. No new bases required, already a 101 training and engineering system in place and the wages were already being paid.
Hot LZ - the problem with the MOD bosses was they were fighting a war in Afghanistan and everything was centred around that capability - SAR didn't feature in their short-term strategy.
Crab, you really are a stuck record! As somebody with both 101 and SAR experience can I offer the following observations;
- the RAF SAR force demilitarised itself over a number of years to the point where it was in effect a civilian service. You might have felt you were part of the RAF, the rest of the RAF very much considered that you weren’t.
- why should UK SAR be military, really? It is almost entirely a civilian requirement (albeit with very niche military endeavours). Senior MOD bods weren’t Afghanistan obsessed, just pragmatic.
- when the 101 was mooted as an option at the time, almost exclusively it was dissed at the time by the SAR fraternity as too big, too ferocious downwash, too much maintenance etc. etc...
I know all this has been said before but just felt the need to chip in. Our civilian friends are doing a great job with some world-class kit and that will continue. The next iteration won’t be perfect and it will no doubt involve some compromise but it will be pretty damn good. Let it lie, you’d do well for your stress levels to move on.