SAR business as usual
After 20+ years in the military including 10+ years of SAR duty, I decided it was time to try different pastures, so I joined a civilian company. After close to 2 years in the civilian outfit, I have come to the following conclusion: If a country can afford to, It should stick with a government run and operated SAR service. This has nothing to do with civilian aircrews or helicopters capabilities. It all boils down to "The commercial aspect" of it. The things I have been witnessing over the last year in that respect, has not impressed me at all! Commercial companies will by their nature do just about anything to maximize profits for their owners. This will at some point in time hurt the enduser of any contract, especially a SAR service, which is a very resource demanding business to be in.
So, does it have to be a military outfit? In my opinion no. As long as the state itself is the owner and operator of the service. One could see a system in place where the "Government SAR service" owned and operated the helicopters, and "bought" support as necessary from the military, or civilian commercial companies. That being training, logistics etc. This could be the best of both worlds. An independent state operated SAR service, with no ties to any ongoing conflicts around the world (military), with the freedom to shop support from wherever (civil)
Last edited by Torcher; 6th Nov 2009 at 07:04.
Reason: grammar!