This thread is getting a little tense. As an outsider I think I have worked out that crab vs limpopo is a mil vs civ contest between two 'insiders'.
So that others might be able to form an objective opinion can you chaps provide the following information.
1. What are the full range of skills/roles that your respective organisations are obliged to perform? That will provide a baseline for comparing where the training hours go.
2. Who exactly trains your SAR crews? Fairly straightforward for the military to answer but I am unaware of a civilian flying school that offers either basic or advanced SAR training.
3. Is there a civ SAR unit anywhere that has nobody with a military background and has trained and progressed its own SAR crews using solely civilian experienced aircrew? If there is then there is an effective counter to the mil assertion that civ units rely on the military to provide SAR outflow. If not then the question of how a civilian organisation will tackle this issue in the 'all civilian' future needs to be explained (and costed).