THE new man in charge of the RAF’s mountain rescue (MR) service has said one of his main challenges is to protect it from budget cuts.
Squadron Leader Simon Moore starts his new job on Monday after spending more than 30 years in the RAF, much of it involving search and rescue (SAR) work.
His appointment comes at a time of great change for the service, with rescue helicopters now outsourced to the private Bristow Group and the number of RAF rescue teams halved from its peak of six in the 1990s.
Moore said his first task was to ensure the service integrated properly into the new organisational structure, although he admitted that the possibility of having to cope with budget cuts was not far from his mind.
He told The National: “We’ve got the next Strategic Defence and Security Review about to take place post the next government and there are going to be cutbacks in the future.
“One of the challenges I face is to make sure that my new command chain understands what benefits MR will bring to the service and organisation, and hopefully protect them from the cuts.
“In the 1990s we had six teams, then we went down to four until three years ago.
“Now we’re down to three teams.
“We have taken our fair share of the cuts, one would hope – I now need to work out how to protect what we have to provide the service that is required.”
The streamlined organisation now sees three MR teams based at RAF Lossiemouth, RAF
Leeming and RAF Valley in North Wales, which is the administrative and training headquarters of the voluntary service.
Moore said he does not anticipate any difficulties working with civilian aircraft and crews.
“The organisation has changed from April 1 – we’ve moved from being responsible for logistic support within the MoD Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Service,” he said.
“In that respect we are no longer part of SAR helicopters.
“We will continue to work with the yellow Sea Kings for as long as they are there, to around the end of this year.
“We shouldn’t actually see too much of a difference working with civilian helicopters.”
Moore added: “Obviously, the contract through the Department for Transport is for Bristow to manage the helicopters for the service.
“We should be tasked by the same route as we were before – through the Air Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Kinloss, which will move down to RAF Farnham with the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre as part of the Bristow’s contract.
“If they get a call for assistance, it will be passed on to us much as it is now.”
He added: “I personally believe there should be no difference in the way things are managed.
“There is some nervousness particularly among civilian MRTs that the contract with Bristow’s will not deliver the same service as the military has until now.
“Having actually worked with Coastguard helicopters from Stornoway I have been very impressed with the capability they provide.
He continued: “They are going to be working with much more modern and more capable helicopters. The Sea Kings are between 30 and 40 years old with tens of thousands of flying hours behind them – so they are past their sell-by date.
“With the fact they [Bristow] have taken some SAR pilots from the military and trained some of their own pilots I don’t believe there should be any reason to worry about the service they should be providing.”
Moore, who is now 52, joined the RAF in 1983, and he whetted his appetite for mountaineering by joining his squadron’s mountain rescue team (MRT). “I spent four years with them, then I went on to the RAF Valley team,” he said.
“I was then commissioned and was based with another unit that had an MRT.
“Then, about five years ago, I went to RAF Kinloss when I rejoined the team there and progressed through the system to rebuild my expertise in SAR.”
Throughout the intervening period he was actively involved in the RAF Mountaineering Association and has “built up a portfolio of experience and qualifications ... between leaving and rejoining MR”.
Moore is also well aware of the high esteem in which the MRTs are held, and said: “The teams are well respected and are held in extremely high regard by civilian rescue teams and by civilian police, who are very keen when they can call on our services to help them search for missing people and the like.”
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