Mr Gok
Although my experience is somewhat dated now (I left the MRS in 2009) the usual departure for weekend training was at 1830 on Fridays - ie after the (non-shift) working day. If the training location was a significant way away (ie Scotland based team deploying to England or Wales) then they occasionally left earlier. Part-time team members were required to get permission from their chain of command to leave their routine duties early. When they couldn't be released early then, if possible, they could follow on later if there were vehicles available. Training weekends were scheduled to return Sunday evening (or Monday evenings for BH weekends) to enable part-time members to resume their route duties on Monday morning. From my experience, they would only return later if call-out on a MACA task - this is a Standing Military Tasks. Part-time members can only be on the team with the approval of their chain of command.
Ace Rimmer (may I call you Arnold Judas?)
If there is a better way to source personnel to undertake this Standing Military Task then it would indeed be good to discover it. Successive Governments have directed that the Armed Forces provide this capability - as it is focused on aeronautical SAR then it logically it sits with the RAF. So how can we provide the capability? The MRS cover 2 (related) but distinct tasks, the first - Aircraft Post Crash Management (ACPM) is purely military; the second, aeronautical SAR is currently undertaken by the MOD on behalf of the DOT. I shall cover both these in turn.
I have already highlighted the military requirement for an Immediate Response Guard Force for military aircraft crashes that the MRS covers.
If this responsibility was left to the units with APCM roles then that would result in personnel on 16 different units being on 1 hour notice to move. This could be managed the same way that other stn duties are managed - but that will add another duty on 12 additional units to manage and equip. Transport aside, the equipment and training required for lowland areas would be minimal - but it would increase the buggeration factor of people significantly. It is my view that those who we expect to deploy in the more inhospitable parts of the UK would need a higher degree of training and equipment (under our duty of care). Who would manage this training? How long could we expect people (who didn't volunteer) to hold this commitment. Would a non-volunteer be content to undertake training at weekends (after all we don't make the Gate Guards to training at a weekend to avoid them missing time in their primary duties) or would they require time away during the week (away from their primary duties) to do this.
Another alternative would be to have full-time teams to undertake this task. However, we would not get any more people for this so any new posts would have to be found by chopping others from already tautly manned sections.
Now turning the the Standing Military Task of aeronautical Search and Rescue. The MRS, currently fulfil the MOD's duty to the DOT, ensuring the UK's land SAR element of the Convention on International Civil Aviation is adhered too. In short, to maintain the UK's signatory status to this convention then the government would have to pump money into the civil side of Search and Rescue to provide a 24/7 UK wide SAR service. There are approximately 74 civilian Mountain Rescue teams in England, Wales, and Scotland comprised of unpaid volunteers. I would suggest that it would take significantly more public money to ensure that these 74 teams are equipped and can conduct aeronautical SAR to the appropriate standards than it does for the 4 MRTs in the RAF MRS.
Although my experience is somewhat dated now (I left the MRS in 2009) the usual departure for weekend training was at 1830 on Fridays - ie after the (non-shift) working day. If the training location was a significant way away (ie Scotland based team deploying to England or Wales) then they occasionally left earlier. Part-time team members were required to get permission from their chain of command to leave their routine duties early. When they couldn't be released early then, if possible, they could follow on later if there were vehicles available. Training weekends were scheduled to return Sunday evening (or Monday evenings for BH weekends) to enable part-time members to resume their route duties on Monday morning. From my experience, they would only return later if call-out on a MACA task - this is a Standing Military Tasks. Part-time members can only be on the team with the approval of their chain of command.
Ace Rimmer (may I call you Arnold Judas?)
If there is a better way to source personnel to undertake this Standing Military Task then it would indeed be good to discover it. Successive Governments have directed that the Armed Forces provide this capability - as it is focused on aeronautical SAR then it logically it sits with the RAF. So how can we provide the capability? The MRS cover 2 (related) but distinct tasks, the first - Aircraft Post Crash Management (ACPM) is purely military; the second, aeronautical SAR is currently undertaken by the MOD on behalf of the DOT. I shall cover both these in turn.
I have already highlighted the military requirement for an Immediate Response Guard Force for military aircraft crashes that the MRS covers.
If this responsibility was left to the units with APCM roles then that would result in personnel on 16 different units being on 1 hour notice to move. This could be managed the same way that other stn duties are managed - but that will add another duty on 12 additional units to manage and equip. Transport aside, the equipment and training required for lowland areas would be minimal - but it would increase the buggeration factor of people significantly. It is my view that those who we expect to deploy in the more inhospitable parts of the UK would need a higher degree of training and equipment (under our duty of care). Who would manage this training? How long could we expect people (who didn't volunteer) to hold this commitment. Would a non-volunteer be content to undertake training at weekends (after all we don't make the Gate Guards to training at a weekend to avoid them missing time in their primary duties) or would they require time away during the week (away from their primary duties) to do this.
Another alternative would be to have full-time teams to undertake this task. However, we would not get any more people for this so any new posts would have to be found by chopping others from already tautly manned sections.
Now turning the the Standing Military Task of aeronautical Search and Rescue. The MRS, currently fulfil the MOD's duty to the DOT, ensuring the UK's land SAR element of the Convention on International Civil Aviation is adhered too. In short, to maintain the UK's signatory status to this convention then the government would have to pump money into the civil side of Search and Rescue to provide a 24/7 UK wide SAR service. There are approximately 74 civilian Mountain Rescue teams in England, Wales, and Scotland comprised of unpaid volunteers. I would suggest that it would take significantly more public money to ensure that these 74 teams are equipped and can conduct aeronautical SAR to the appropriate standards than it does for the 4 MRTs in the RAF MRS.