pasptoo - the SARH contract is to create a service that is no less capable than exists within the mainly military UK SAR force at present. That means you need people who are current in UK SAROPS if you are not to face a huge training burden converting those who may not have English as a first language, may never have flown in UK before, may have never used NVG before or may be so long out of the SAR saddle that they almost need complete re-training.
I know there are lots of those who believe that because they did one SAR tour, once upon a time, that they are immediately qualified to jump into SARH demanding parity with those who have a current capability in modern, multi-agency ops. Being ex-mil, ex NVGI or ex-anything is not the same as being current and competent in role. Operational sharpness is like IF in that it is a perishable skill that you only realise has degraded when you try it out in anger - then you realise you are only as good as your next sortie, not your last.
Like it or not, the main shareholder in current UK SAR is the RAF and since most, if not all, of the SMEs (subject matter experts) in SARH have been RAF and both the remaining bidders have employed ex- RAF SAR people in key positions - the shape of SARH will be broadly based on what the RAF does now.
The RN will have a 1/3 share of the 66 mil pers in the military arm of SARH I am led to believe - whether or not they will continue to use SAR as a rest tour for 'front-line' crews I don't know.
This is where a fundamental attitude gap exists within SAR for RAF and RN, we don't regard it as a 'rest-tour' or a way of escaping going to sea, we regard it as front-line and many crews, especially the rear-crew, spend their whole lives within the SAR environment having a full career path open to them.
So when an RN pilot who has done 1 SAR tour claims to be an experienced SAR pilot compared to an RAF pilot who has 7 or 8 tours in different locations around the UK we are often not comparing like with like. I am not denigrating the quality of RN aviators, just pointing out different philosophies regarding SAR in the military.
The CG do limited overland night SAR but are constrained by weather - jobs like the Gloucester floods and many night mountain jobs are beyond their current capability and it is experience in these environments on NVG which is peculiar to the RAF/RN SAR crews.
It is the need for these experience levels post 2012 which will mean that simply putting bums on seats will not be enough - to avoid a capability and credibility gap in UK SAR post 2012, there is only one place the experience can come from.
Let's be clear that we are not just talking front-enders here - the biggest shortfall is going to come in the winchop/winchman area where the need for experienced operators who are paramedic qualified will strip the military completely, especially of trainers/QCIs - most of those posts are already occupied in the current CG setup by ex-RAF SAR winchmen - which should say something to you about quality.
I hope that you might come to realise that I do know something about UK SAR - I am used to being insulted - that happens when people don't understand or don't like what you are saying to them - it doesn't make me wrong.