Al-bert,
I'm afraid your fears are well founded. In my opinion the RAF SAR Force, to some extent, has become a victim of it's own success and a classic case of empire-building. There are those (not all) that would have you believe that the art of SAR flying is so highly skilled and requires so much practice that in recent times the approved training path for anyone crossing over from SH has meant 2+ years to achieve captaincy. The hierarchy then seem surprised that they have manning issues! It's no wander the Royal Navy sometimes are bemused at the RAF's approach and a commercial operator will clearly do things very differently. I hope that those guys who decide to jump ship, and deserve a seat, are welcomed with open arms but I wouldn't count on it.