Flippin heck!
Ye Gods gents this thread has got down and dirty very rapidly!
Now I have posted a few times pointing out the virtues of both mil and civ SAR pilots. It would appear that no one is listening! Chaps, and ladies, I'll say it again, we are all good at what we do with the tools we are given. Change is comming though. That will be change for both mil and civ operators. Lets cover the civ chaps first, you all state about you get the kit the customer will pay for. Well in 2012 one of the partners that will be your customer is the military. So some accommodation of what they will require will be needed - they are currently working out what it is they exactly want and this is not the forum to go speculating about it - someone has already mentioned commercial in confidence information. But you will need to meet in the middle me thinks.
Military chaps. You too will have to change. SAR will inevitably not be an 'entire career posting anymore'. You will have to move to the SH force at some point to use the skills from SAR in the battlefield - SH chaps dont start about what skills - time and a place and this aint it.
You will almosty certainly get new equipment to a specificiation laid down in a contract. If it doesn't work or new kit is required, you adjust the contract and the ac or service is modified at someones expense. Sometimes yours sometimes theirs. It is relatively simple and you reap the benefits of change quickly. The trick is getting the contract right in the first place. Now this is where your efforts should lie from now until contract award.
Crab. I am sorry but I have to agree with some of the posters above and say you might well be doing more harm than good to mil SAR. I think some of your comments might be a little outdated and suffer from crew-room wispers [a bit like chinese wispers but more dangerous!]. Please don't have a go back because I am not attacking you just pointing out that you might like to think on a little more before you type out a response.
RTS, 3D cam, DtD, Crab is not a bad chap he is just defending his corner from a perceived threat. You are doing exactly the same. However, this ping pong my dads bigger than your dad stuff is not doing the SAR community any good whatsoever. Can we all please look to the future and get the BEST from it for all concerned. This thread is not a good advert for people who spend their lives dedicated to saving others.
Waits for incomming. Oh, by the way crabette is not who you think either!