First of all thanks for the reply!
Bear in mind that winchmen may well come off the wire if the situation requires it
I am not trying to offend anyone and especially not the brave winchmen all around the world but there is a reason winchmen are called winchmen.
As far as I know, correct me if I am wrong, are the winchmen not trained to swim nor do they have any equipment (from what I have seen) that would support a swimming rescue(like masks/fins/snorkel). The standards for an US AST are very high for a reason, because swimming in big waves is not an easy thing to do. So I'd still think there is a gap to fill that is created by the winchmen limitations. They are very proffesional people and I respect them, but it is just not a good idea to come "off the wire" when you are not trained to do so. Then you have 1 extra victim in the water. Again no offence.
why do you think British SAR aircraft don't have them?
Well I don't know the answer to that question but I would very much like to do so, because I don't understand how you can just remove that part from the SAR ops. I'd think they would replace that asset with something that is sufficient in carrying out that role but that also has other roles within the navy.
Like you said they are not needed in most SAR cases.
No doubt you didn't mean to cause any offence.
Indeed, that wasn't my intention at all. I truly respect all men and women who do this job and I am not trying to condescend them but I fear that if I become one, I will be "that paramedic who picks victims up". I don't want my picture in the newspapers, I don't want to brag about being one if I will ever be. I am in no way trying to imply those things by saying what I said. I just want to really put the skills that I think I posess to good use and I mean really to use. That is all I want.
Thanks again for the reply and I hope others will try to answer my questions too.
Cheers