My criticisms of Valley are not a mil v civvy rant, they are specific to the setup at Valley and are certainly not without foundation. Unfortunately it became clear after the transition that the mil engineering there hadn't been that clever either - little things like the comp wash rig being U/S in the hangar for months so no comp washes were done and the engines were in a poor state. So poor practices were handed on from mil to civ and not gripped by the new civ management who were out of their depth with a relatively inexperienced workforce both on type and in role. SAR engineering requires a certain mindset that conflicts with the 'union-rules' type of individual who can't be flexible. Sadly many ex-mil heli engineers have worked on large RN squadrons where there is little interaction between aircrew and groundcrew which then fosters an 'us and them' attitude which is entirely counter-productive.
I highlight the quality of the engineers at Chiv because they were good engineers in the mil and equally good as civvies (if not better because they are not waiting to be posted or f*8ked around by Innsworth). It all comes down to good management because the work ethic and ethos starts there and filters down to all.