Trim
Funnily enough I almost agree 100%
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The companies will always try to get VFM and, in theory (according to the FCO) the MOD is only used 'as a last resort' so lowest bidder wins! Where the RAF Hercs and associated pers carried out their rescue missions were, IMHO, 'commercially unviable'. It is arguable whether the HMS CUMB rescue could have been 'let' to commercial contract but, at the end of the day, the job got done (probably far quicker) and, as far as I understand, all who wanted to leave have done so.
Enough of the thread drift. A good job, in potentially very difficult circumstances, by all 3 services as well as the commercial sector. Let's hope what really happened, both in the desert and in the corridors of Whitehall, will be out in the public domain sooner rather than later.