Spanish - as I said, that is not how it was sold to the RAF SAR Force, access to the roadshows was tightly controlled and the emphasis was on taking current SAR crews.
Snakepit - I wouldn't put too much stock by that article, it is a news story and as such doesn't have to paint an accurate or fair picture. If someone outside the SAR community read it they would come away with the belief that the RAF and RN are equal partners in the service provision rather than the actual 6 to 2 ratio that exists. Additionally, the understanding we had was that as well as ensuring a smooth handover of service to Bristow, the managed transition was to keep the DfT happy that taking a number of current SAR crews would prevent too much dilution of UKSAR experience, especially on NVD.