Originally Posted by
llamaman
That's a fair assessment but the function in practical day to day terms will be a different dynamic despite whatever management structures are in place.
(As posted elsewhere.) ... I take the view that those location should not be in major urban areas. I suggest that successful SAR management will be best served if staff are recruited from a largely rural area where self-reliance is a normal fact of life and everybody listens to the weather forecast.
Originally Posted by
llamaman
The Coastguard is a customer for SAR with no less or more priority than any of the other 1st response agencies. The ARRC's responsibility is to allocate helicopters on a case by case basis without bias and driven by the urgency of the situation at the time. I hope this ethos can be maintained post-March.
The current intake to ARCC Fareham can easily pick up on enough ex-SAR (helo/MRS/Nimrod) types resident in the Hampshire area but I am hearing that it is a mix of that and others who are not aviators. They are being trained in an aviation environment at the instigation of an aviation department so there is some place for optimism. I remain concerned but not as concerned as I was a few months ago.