No, I haven't missed the whole point. I just see comments from individuals who think that the civilian world will provide a poorer service than the military, because there wont be as much money put in for training, and that just isn't the case.
I might add there are a number of both crewmen and pilots (including Captains) in civilian SAR units now who have never been near the military. I know that some crewmen have used SARTU (through the FBH links) to be taught the basic techniques and then have returned to their civil SAR units to continue their training and then be brought on line. However, the pilots have been taught without going via the RAF/RN.
Crab, you are right that in the beginning the civil SAR did rely considerably on ex-military SAR crews, but that is not the case so much these days. Many of the units have both pilots and crewmen that have never been near the military other than a short course at SARTU for the crewmen. There are several SAR pilots both in co-pilot and command positions now who have never been in the military. I can think of one unit where they are the majority of the staff.
You say "When the 2012 contract is let, there will be a need to poach/recruit military crews to fill many of the slots, to think otherwise is fanciful." Well, I believe it may be fanciful for you to believe that. At the end of the day, only time will tell, plus of course, whether you can be released from the military!