Vie sans frontieres,
A very perceptive post Sir. If you read the threads that Crab gets involved in he is, almost always, asking genuine questions of those who seek to rubbish mil-SAR and who claim that civvies can do the same job cheaper. Having done so, he is usually treated to a tirade of personal abuse and little by way of helpful or knowledgeable replies. Admittedly, he is prone to getting a bit emotional but then he is defending an organisation with an enviable reputation recognised worlwide (otherwise, why would the RAF SAR standards unit be in such high demand) being slagged off by the woefully ignorant.
I sincerely hope that the more offensive responses, if they are from genuine civilian SAR operators, represent the views of the minority. Before any civilian operators get upset, I think the same about military operators slagging off their civilian counterparts.
CD