AUD $00.20
Why we don't make more use of our military resources has intrigued me for a long while and has certainly created some interesting discussion. For instance here we have a need for the services of a highly specialised group of pilots and aircraft in this bush fire prone land and we have very little of either. The notion that the Army and/or RAAF could support a few dedicated specialist aircraft is no more outré than the Navy being the 'bees knees' for serious SAR (and FDR recovery). Real life training benefits for engineers, operations, logistics, pilots and ground crew are there. Always seems a bit potty to me, that our highly skilled, ready to go folk are parked on the sidelines at a time of serious national need.
Not even an economists bootlace, but I reckon a honest cost /benefit analysis would come down to a gross saving for the country – overall. Anyway – just my two bob's worth...