Flounder - I know it was bait but I didn't want to disappoint
Geoffers - you are, like me, a trainer and therefore must know that flying skills are perishable - no matter how good someone thinks they are, the fact is that without appropriately challenging and regular training, SAR skills quickly fade.
Being operationally current is one thing, being operationally competent is quite another. I'm not saying the contract has to include the roll-royce, gold-plated training solution - even I am not that naive - but anyone who believes that all the skill sets required to provide a world class SAR capability can be maintained on bare minimum currencies is deluding themselves.