[jester]

Military SAR: So the most part I think the role would evaporate for the following reasons:

1.) The assets to use them in the role they are intended would no longer be there. No aircraft, helicopters, communications and intel data to get an idea of where the victims they would rescue are at. Another reason as well, in the military enviroment, who does SAR normaly rescue? Aviators, and without aircraft thier would no longer be any aviators to rescue so no jobs for SAR. And thus they would be absorbed by field units needing the well skilled personel that these units would have. Think of the skill base most of these SAR personel have?

First Aid for many, plus rope skills, and depending on the type of SAR either insane water or ffield or mountaineering or arctic skills and all of them would have communications and land nav skills as well as suriving in their enviroment.

In the US hell in my tricounty area we have the following resources who have multiple types of SAR be they AIR, Water, Mountain or white water or Wilderness or Desert. And those are just the Sheriffs Department of paid members.

We also have:

Sheriff volunteers who do that sort of work.

Forest Service Volunteers
Four or Five private organizations who do mountain, desert and wilderness SAR missions

As stated the Forrest and Park services both State and National

Now lets toss in other organizations:

Coastguard and its auxilary
Civil Air Patrol that is half of their mission and they do alot of it, an example was the Steve Faucet disapearance.

National Guard and Air National Guard although in a T2K world their resources maybe scarce.

And iof course alot of communities and ski l and mountain odges also have their own rescue teams as well.


Chico you mentioned the Coastguard inshore side of the house not having weaponry, what would it take to add it? I recall durring WWII they had volunteers with sailboats and binoculars, and maybe a machinegun. Granted the odds are not in the favor of a modernsailboat in locating a sub, hell toss on a fish finder and you increase your chances but still it is slim but none the less it is a chance, 1 chance multiplied times how many?

Further, it would deny a submarine the chance to operate in a limited area for fear of being spotted, or at least keep them from surfacing, kinda like opening up on tanks with small arms, it won't take it out but it will keep em buttoned up.

And think about it, what did the PT Boats of WWII have? A few roll off depthcharges, which is simple technology, not overly effective of course but still a deterant.

And as I recall durring WWII the Civil Air Patrol was credited with sinking a submarine from airdropped depthcharges, so they can do something. I am still hoping for the odd one manned sailboat who spots a sub radiomast out to sea as he is trying to fish for dinner.

But mostly I would imagine the SAR units would have had ALOT of attrition even before their ability and reason had disapeared. If one things of what SAR in the early T2K would be doing they would have done some hairy missions. And alot of those missions would have been behind enemy controled territory, with some ending in failure which would result in casualties among the SAR personel.

You must also remember, without combat but a high operational tempo accidents will happen as people and eguipment reach their endurance point, machines fail, people make mistakes and you will suffer losses that way.

And also, lets not forget that military type SAR and even Civilians in that role would stand out as targets, not to mention even in the rear military personel would still be at risk of attack reguardless of their duty, be they cler,k, rifleman or SAR tyhey are still going to fall victim of enemy attacks.

So, in the end with their missions drying up, and their equipment disapearing they will be reforged into smaller units on standbye with surplus personel going into scout type units and medical units.

I can see some SAR types forming behind the lines type units to act as scouts since alot of them as I said would have survival skills and behind the lines training that would be second to none.

Thats just my take on it.