Chopabeefer should be aware that SAR operations have been conducted by many and varied organisations over the years and are not the exclusive property of the RAF. The late Alan Bristow set the bar at an astonishingly high level when he rescued wounded French troops in Indo China in a Hiller in the 1950`s, gaining the Legion d`Honeur for his efforts. All three services have been involved in the evolution of techniques and myriad civilian companies have taken advantage of military expertise to provide local services as and when requiired, such as Management Aviation, North Scottish, Bond, Bristow, British Airways, BEAS, CHC, BIH to mention but a few.
It is about time the Crabs stopped working themselves up to orgasm over ownership of bragging rights for SAR and acknowledged that the new world of SAR is here to stay, crewed by professionals front and back seat who may well come from different backgrounds, not necessarily military.
Finally, never lose sight of who it was who taught the RAF to fly the Sea King in the first place, it was the RN, I know cos I was there!