And when was the last time an RAF MRT deployed to an RAF/Army/RN aircraft incident? After all that was their primary role.
I'm willing to bet that they are used to rescue civvys a lot more than military.
What are the running costs of the whole RAF MRT, vehicles included? And are they really needed seeing as all the areas that they operate in now have civvy units nearby?
During my time on the MRS (2007-9) there were frequent callouts to recover aircrew and then guard RAF/RN helicopters that had been forced to land through either unserviceabilty or weather and one call out to a FJ crash (Tornado F3 - Jul 09).
There use on civilian rescues/searches occurs only after an approach from the relevent Police force through the ARRC and is governed by the Military Aid to the Civial Authorities military task as the provision of other military support (flooding, strikes etc).
I'm not sure of the current budget/running costs however, I don't think that it would generate that much of a saving. In manpower terms the full-time element of the Service is about the same size as one of the RAF's bands. As highlighted in post #17, even if we cut the 4 RAF MRTs the MOD would still have the responsibility for its crash sites (and the security responsibility for the helicopters that park themselves in remote places). The MRS currently provides the Immediate Response Guards for up to 36 hours for such incidents when they occur more than 5 miles away from a military airfield. This gives the local unit with ACPM responsibility time to generate a guard force. Without the MRS each of the 16 units with APCM responsibilities would need to have a number of personnel on very-short (1 hour) notice to move with the equipment (and support) to provide the Immediate Response Guards. The short NTM would probably require each of the 16 units to have dedicated vehicles the ensure their availability at short notice. I would suggest that those ACPM units whose areas include inhospitable terrain (Valley, Leeming, Leuchars, and Kinloss) will need to ensure that their Immediate Response Guards are trained and equipped to operate in those areas.
Civvy team (comprising unpaid volunteers) are very good at what they do - when RAF MRTs are called out to assist in civilian searches they do so in support of these teams. However, they do not (and do not claim to) have the expertise to deal with land-based aviation SAR. In particular they do not have the skills to plan a search based on likely flight path of an aircraft, the effect of weather conditions and even the possible parachute drift if the crews abandoned the aircraft. In poor weather, helicopters can't fly and conduct the search so it has to be planned and executed on land. The search areas are frequently greater than one would expect in a missing person search. Moreover, the civilian teams do not have the training to be able to deal with the hazards associated with aircraft wreckage - especially military aircraft wreckage. The civilian volunteers will gladly help search for people but, I would suggest, that they would not hang around to guard an wreck on remotely parked helicopter, search for a particular piece of kit, or provide specialist support to recovery teams working in dangerous terrain or extreme weather conditions.
No, what I am asking is how many lives you are saving in bad weather? And what do the full time MRT do the rest of the time?
I don't think there are stats that will say either way. From personal experience - I have had the pleasure of climbing in many areas of the world including the Himalaya and the Alps (none of this was with the MRS) however, the worst conditions I have ever experienced in the mountains was during a search fro a missing aircraft in the Cairngorms that had to be undertaken by foot as the weather conditions were too bad for the SAR cabs (though they did a sterling job lifting us as high up the mountain as they could).
As for the PS when they are not on a call - you mean apart from making sure that the team is contactable 24/7 to respond to callouts within 1 hour; ensure that there is a training programme in place for the team (undertaken at weekends and the odd lunchtime); ensuring that the kit is serviceable...
(Sarcasm mode on) On a similar vein - what does a Tornado squadron or an RAF Regiment Squadron do when it is not doing its job (ie deployed operations) or what do fire fighters do when there isn't a fire, or the police do when there is no one to arrest, or the QRA when there isn't a scramble. From your posts and title, I am assuming that your a technician - then (it could be argued) that your job is to ensure that aircraft are erviceable to do their job (ie fly operational missions) - so what do you do when your not deployed? (Sarcasm mode off)
I have to second that. Having spent the last year working in an office with someone whose "secondary duty" is MRT I can safely say it does in some cases increase the workload for others while they're out on the hills earning quals, saving lives and, lets face it, most likely enjoying it. I've no problem with MRT as a secondary duty, since they fulfill a requirement, but it should be just that, and not interfere with their primary tasking. Couldn't we chin off the civie rescue responsibility for the RAF MRT and increase the size of the civvie teams, then RAF secondary duty MRT could do their training in their spare time, not in work time!
Points relating to your question about civvy teams covered above. As for training - the vast majority of MRT training (to ensure that the MOD can meet its obligations and some of the Military Tasks it is detailed to provide) is conducted in individuals' spare time (usually weekends).
By extension, you argument could be applied to any MACA task so next time your unit gets a tasking to provide people you'll be seeking to use those off-shift.
Yes, I did enjoy the vast majority of my time in the MRS with a great bunch of people - however, recovering bodies and body-parts is not particularly enjoyable - but we take the rough with the smooth.
DT_Xtremez_09