"Yup - take a junglie/bagger/anyone - give him hardly any training"
That is kind of my point, Crab. He doesn't really need any.
RN cabs with "non-professional" crew do SAR all over the world all the time. Usually nobody in the UK even notices because they don't register on the system unless somebody gets a medal. I think we will continue to do just fine.
I don't actually disagree with you that it is very sad that the dedicated military SAR sqns (both RAF and RN) are closing.
It is an enormous loss, but not to the public - I very much doubt they will notice any change in quality of service whatsoever - but rather it is a loss to the military. 771 and Gannet give the RN a centre of excellence and flexibility at many things whilst also providing second line tours/embarked SAR flights/etc and training.
The loss is all ours, not the public's except in the wider sense of a decrease in operational capability of their armed forces.