So you're at war, and on the day the General says "over the top lads, into a hot LZ with a load of soldiers and I expect a few of you won't come back". Flight safety? MAUW precludes carrying that extra box of ammo for the troops? Arse. Salute, yes sir thankyou very much, and execute.
Now I'm not suggesting that SAR always justifies breaking rules (although it might) and I'm not suggesting that wartime ops mean flight safety is ignored (but it might). War, by definition, is not safe. There is a sliding scale of mission vs safety, starting at commercial passenger operations and ending in the commitment of military resources to a high-risk mission.