I am not trying to cause angst - change will come, I am sure of it - but when that change comes it needs to be right, not just cheap. Therefore I will continue to fight our corner and highlight where the 'we are cheaper and therfore better' argument is flawed.
Hmmm! I wonder how the CIVIL MCA units have lasted for the last 20+ years then, if they don't get enough training, don't train co-pilots to being captains, don't have enough hours, don't have enough engineers and anything else I might have missed that they don't have? Seems to me that while they would like more hours, they don't appear to have suffered by the lack of them as perceived by some on this forum. What they need are new aircraft and they are coming.
May I suggest that those who have never worked in the civil SAR world consider that thought for a moment before jumping on their high horses about how wonderful the military SAR are?
(Note: I have experience of both worlds before anyone starts going on about "crew room chat" again!)