3d cam- You might have done it to death, but you still fail to answer the question. You always come up with something to muddy the waters. How much do you cost, Simple. If you need to, put a caveat on it, like, we do this, this and this as well, then do it.
Torque-If you want a standby crew, put it in the contract and it will be provided. Same goes for NVG or anything else for that matter including 2 hours on drums. Whatever you want can be provided, it just needs to be written in to the contract. Then if it is not provided there will be penalties. It is that simple. However like you I felt uncomfortable without a standby crew. Now having been exposed to it I do wonder how cost effective it is. But that’s one for the bean counters and the crew that’s stuck in the water 200 miles offshore!
Clever- as you are no doubt well aware, the mil will not tell you how much they cost, state secret. However I know their manning levels and their commitments as I was one. Also when I was in I felt as they do, however in these financially tight times I want to see taxpayers money well spent not wasted. There is little to no Military gain from SAR, the crews are not rotated through so they spend their entire career at home (I know standfast Navy). The guys on the front line are hard pressed and could do with being rotated to a cushy number-SAR. The MOD is bankrupt and needs the cash elsewhere, kit for the troops on the front line. The Hierarchy has taken their eye off the ball with SAR, quite rightly, to concentrate on the front line. That’s why they have been thrown to the wolves. If this argument was fought on an R & R tour for the hard pressed front line I would be on their side. There are also other arguments for it remaining as it is, but in my opinion they have chosen the wrong argument to retain it. Mil manning, by its structure which they have failed to address, means they will always have to have more people on watch. That’s even if they have the same aircraft. The amount off backroom personnel would also not be entertained in the civilian world. As you may be aware personnel costs in the Mil are significantly higher, generous pensions, free medical care, etc. Their inability to get their aircraft serviceability up to a reasonable standard is not the guys on the grounds fault. But it is damming. Don’t let them fool you with the amount of hours flown, a North Sea aircraft flies significantly more hours and still achieves a much better serviceability rate. If the SAR aircraft is not on state there is no penalty, whereas the Civ company will be fined a significant sum, that tends to make them a bit sharper. There is more but I don’t want to bore you. The Air Ambulances/Police are much misaligned on here, yet they have a lot to teach the Mil in terms of cost and efficiency. As I have said before both worlds have something to give but some people don’t want to listen. Think that lot should get me shouted at.