I think it was King Canute who thought he could hold back the tide. Since the first HMC unit came on stream the tide has only been going one way. It seems that no matter how black and white the evidence, emotions can play games with your judgment.
To avoid any more heartache I suggest that Crab bows to the inevitable and concentrates on ensuring that those many excellent aspects of MilSAR we have grown to respect are able to play their part come the inevitable.
I suspect that many of us ex mil guys who have also dabbled in civSAR enjoy the banter and the friendly rivalry but come the 'New Order' we just have to make the very best of what we have.
Many years ago I was part of a team trying to sell a 3-base 'Turnkey' SAR package (based on S61s) on behalf of Bristow to the Chinese government. There was a defining moment after our presentation to State Economic Council Officials in Beijing in which the 'head-man' asked if the proposed system of dispatch, command and control, was the same as we use in UK. Of course nobody given a blank sheet of paper would have copied the crazy, turf-war based, fragmented, unjoined-up system we used at that time so we said "NO". Well, we instantly lost credibility and that was that. They knew our system by reputation and if they weren't going to get a carbon copy then we were not welcome. Little did they know!
This joining of forces may be the first step in making our SAR setup 'joined-up'. Now we have to focus on getting the rest of it right.
It's a bit like getting ambulances and fire brigades to join up and offer a truly multi-skilled service to our population. That will raise some hackles I guess but it will happen one day.... it has to..... its the only way to go, but first you have to fight off the vested interests, the bigots and the turf-warriors.
G
