That's fair enough - but it's not fair enough to say pheasant was making the point that aviators were required for these roles because he really wasn't. Anyway, like I said, absorb some CHF into the Merlin force and surely these roles are fulfilled, along with bringing your QHI/QAI experience to train the crews how to land the birds on the LPH. This shouldn't take too long. This has surely got to be a better and cheaper option than :
Sack 50% Merlin aircrew
Sack or redistribute Merlin eng force
Re-role 50% Merlin aircrew to chinook
Re-role all CHF aircrew to Merlin (with all associated costs)
Marinise Merlin for sustained deck ops (embark only when reqd)
+ whatever else I may have missed !