HMS Gannet search and rescue to close. please help!

[scottishwolf]

HMS Gannet - please sign

HMS Gannet in Ayrshire set to close. Lives with be lost. Please help

This a copy of an email I received don't know if it will make any difference tho...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8506806.stm

I dont normally get involved in these things, but I feel that they are moving Gannet to save money not lives.

Hi all

You may/may not be aware that there is an e-petition which started locally
against the move to privatise search and rescue services, presently
operating out of HMS Gannet. The search and rescue service operation has
been awarded to a private consortium and is due to move to Glasgow airport
at the end of this year.

I have enclosed the link to this e-petition if you want to help keep HMS
Gannet operating out of Prestwick? Feel free to pass it on to any of your
contacts if you think they would be interested in supporting it.

After you have entered your details the e-petition will send an automated
email to your email address to verify that it is you i.e.the email account
holder who has left the petition record. Your "vote" will not be counted
until you have clicked the link to verify this email. It only takes a few
seconds to do, and may ultimately save lives.....

Below a link to petition the government regarding closing the Gannet

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/HMSGannet/

Thanks to all who sign up for this

 

[maddave]

Petition signed... and thread moved to the correct section

 

[Barn Owl]

Signed,
Hope plenty others will too.

 

[w00dsmoke]

Signed.............lets hope they don't shut it.

 

[scottishwolf]

Cheers guys, keep em comin. Being an Ayrshire man myself this is quite close to my heart. I know one or two people whos lives have been saved by these guys.

 

[Stuart69]

Signed too .... let's hope this helps

 

[Toddy]

Signed...........hear? it's scary how many names on that list of folks I recognise

cheers,
Mary

 

[Seoras]

Signed up as well. They recently closed the Seacadet training centre at HMS Gannet. An all too familiar picture it seems.

 

[EdS]

This has been on the card for a while.

Part of the problem is that he Sea Kings are over their design hours. At the moment it is not 100% that a choper will be available when requested - either due to other commitments (as only a limited number) or whether one of the local ones is air worth at the time.

It could be a good move, it could be a bad one. Most choper S&R in Europe is via private / semi private organisations.
Major issue I could see is whether it will be free as it is or the victim or their oudoor insurance will have to stump up as happens in most of Europe.

 

[hiho]

signed....

 

[Nat]

Signed, yet another damn fine service hit by "cut backs"

 

[Waterworx]

Signed and link posted elsewhere

 

[wildrover]

Petition signed.

I doubt the "private" company that steps in will have the skills,equipment or daring (read liability insurance ) to do what the RN / RAF boys do.

Oh, and you'll probably have to pay through the nose for the new service provider... Doesn't sound like a positive step to me, but then what do I know.

As for the Sea Kings reaching the end of their service lives, is there not a programme for their replacement?
Also as has been often stated, the experience from the civillian rescues carried out is the best training for the Air Crews for their primary function, that is, the recovery of Downed Pilots and soldiers in difficult terrain / conditions.

Unless of course this function will also be passed to the guys who fly out to the Oil Platforms in the North Sea.
Hope not.

 

[SCOMAN]

I don't want to give to much away about my current and past employment but it's along the same lines and it's largely welcomed as a good thing. The aircraft will be modern, fit for purpose, faster and with longer legs. All those things make it better. The move from Prestwick to Glasgow makes provision of the service cheaper, I've been given rough figures and trust me the 'rent' Prestwick charges is extortionate. The private company that got it as been in the business for years already and most if not all of them are ex RN or RAF anyway. In addition the military will be providing approx 40 pilots for the service. Now this you may not believe but bear with me, the military would like a part out of the SAR business. It's expensive, out of normal military training(and therefore the additional training costs more) and will allow them to provide more pilots for frontline service. We are fighting a war and will be for the forseeable future, trained pilots are at a premium. By still keeping approx 40 doing the job though will provide a SAR experience within the forces for military SAR. The future of SAR as currently spelt out will be better in my opinion. I'm 40 in a few days and I'm pretty certain no UK Sea King air frame is younger than me. I know it may sound like simple cost cutting but some serious work went into putting it out, I'm not saying it won't change for the worse in future but that's what we'll need the petitions for.

 

[EdS]

to be honest from what I heard from other sources in the know what Scoman says is pretty dead on.

Basically, you are will be more likely to get a choper out on the hills than you are now and it will more than likely be crewed by past or present military folks.

It just isn't viable for RAF/RN (not sure about CC) to be doing civvy rescues - man power and more/machines are needed else where.

 

[bigant]

have spent many happy hours at the sea cadet training centre there and have even had a trip in one of the choppers its a very sad day that its closed i would have signed in a heart beat but it wont let me just gives me some **** about it been campaign time for the government so no new sigs or petitions are allowed...

 

[relfy]

This has been frustrating me for a while. Thanks for this link as its good to have somewhere to sign as an outlet for my emotion! Having been crew in the lifeboat, I KNOW you need good people in the helicopter above you (been nearly drowned by a less than good one) and I don't think this makes any sense.... How will it be possible for civilian staff to be ‘trained to the same high standards’ for less money than using the skills of already trained service people? And how come this just seems to be happening without any consultation with anyone? It was a win-win situation with RAF crew getting free training and people getting rescued, so it must (like a lot of things) just be about someone getting a fat bonus by ticking off 'implement change' on their management objectives.

Petition signed

 

[relfy]

Oh! Sorry, I couldn't sign it as they've closed it over the election period. That sucks. Have to remember to come back again later: Deadline is 3rd June.

 

[relfy]

Scoman, I'm interested in what you were writing but I think my brain must be in safe mode this morning, so I found it a bit hard to 'get' all of it.

"By still keeping approx 40 doing the job though will provide a SAR experience within the forces for military SAR. The future of SAR as currently spelt out will be better in my opinion........ I'm not saying it won't change for the worse in future but that's what we'll need the petitions for."

Are you saying that the forces do value doing civilian SAR for the experience but having around 40 crew is enough for the time being while there is a war and they are getting plenty of experience anyway? ....Doesn't that mean that when it is 'peace time' (I know its a relative term) they will want to up their involvement again?
And why do you think the future of SAR will be better under this framework?

 

[SCOMAN]

Hi Relfy, I believe that the military keeping 40 crew trained will be enough to keep a corps of SAR trained aircrew to allow for military SAR(downed aircrew etc) and for military SAR training. Will they want this back after the current war, I sincerely doubt it. The military have to do a lot of horse trading for money, this includes offering to give up a number of capabilities in order to get money to spend elsewhere, I think this may have been welcomed as a saving. Allowing most of the aircrew to return back to normal operational rotation will ease financial and personnel grief. Speaking to some SAR crews last year one was 20 days leave owed in late Mar as he was unable to take leave due to lack of crew. I think it'll be better under the new framework due to better equipped, faster and more modern aircraft.
The original thread issue of the closure of HMS GANNET(not shouting capitals are used naming warships and stone frigates) is a major cost saving move and nothing else Prestwick has expensive rent. The placement of aircraft has been looked at as a speed x times x distance equation to hit the most likely hotspots within a time threshold a percentage of the time. Another thought to consider is that the support team of the aircraft, maintainers and any admin staff will be able to be redeployed to fill holes(and there are many) elsewhere. The Navy will also not have to pay for the insfrastructure upkeep etc. However one final opinion to note is any further reduction in Air SAR cover will produce a major negative effect in the capabilities.