Nate..... Where this goes off the rails is when a group of highly skilled pilots want to initiate a search and the CAP clowns throw up a TFR to keep out decent people who just want to.. and CAN help.. Out of the CAP's sand box so they can claim the find to justify their existence....
Remember, big brothers dick is bigger then the publics...
That "highly skilled set of pilots" have any MOUs signed with anyone who has the search authority in that location? It's not that hard to become a SAR organization and maintain legal legitimacy with those who'll be voted out of office if some "highly skilled set of pilots" gets hurt doing something they authorized.
We have twenty or thirty ground SAR teams here in CO. If someone wanted to create an air SAR team, I'm sure they could.
But no Sheriff or anyone elected is going to let just any group show up and claim legitimacy on the day of a search. Or let them operate in the same areas as the legitimate SAR organizations. Note I didn't say effective SAR organizations or anything like that, nor make any claims about skill set nor argue for any particular group.
Show up with the proper paperwork, I bet you could search all you wanted.
As far as TFRs go, they're a tool created and offered by a higher governmental power. No SAR manager in their right mind wouldn't use them to keep a cowboy/undocumented group out. I'm no fan of TFRs but they exist and it's not CAPs call to activate them. It's legally whoever requested the SAR mission. CAP can *ask* for one, but has no authority to create one. CAP will also back up the jurisdiction for requesting it for safety reasons, of course. But the correct place to complain, is to the jurisdiction that requested it.
They tossed the book at drone operators who came within feet of SAR helicopters operating here, during the floods a couple years back, and the TFR was the teeth. The drones were shooting video trying to claim they had a legitimate product to sell to government. Insanely dumb move on their part. Lost all credibility with those in charge of searches at the State level. Also got bad media coverage. Really dumb move on the drone manufacturer's part to fly in an active rescue area.
Anyway... It's (relatively) easy to get all the paperwork in order to be a SAR team. I doubt most of these groups that show up and claim (rightly or wrongly) that they have a "highly skilled set of pilots" will ever go through the trouble and have the discipline to do so.
A FEW (very few) private helicopter organizations have done so in some locations and are a considerable asset to the folks running the searches there. Usually done because they also work a written MOU deal where the State or other entity pays for their services.
How to create a group varies from
State to State. Around here a legitimate group probably needs to be a certified member of the (venerable but generally useful), Colorado Search and Rescue Board. CSARB has held significant sway with all the "right" folks through many decades and many different types and flavors of government interest in SAR activity.
I've been a member on and off of more than one CSARB sanctioned organization over the decades. Many folks are dual-hatted at the meetings if they get suckered into representing more than one group. Many groups have even gone the extra mile for interoperability and gone beyond CSARB and applied for access to infrastructure like the Statewide State-Owned and Operated digital radio system, etc.
Don't know what it's like where you live but SAR volunteerism is not a closed door with proper training documented and homework done, here.
Sure, there will be a hurdle of skepticism that a new group will have to hurdle and jump through a few hoops, but that's to be expected when talking with folks who've done it for 30, 40, some even 50 years. Going to have to pay a few dues and prove you're more serious than just showing up with a "highly skilled set of pilots".
I've watched two ground-based groups form up from nothing and get and maintain standing as voting members of that Board, so it's not that hard. Here anyway.
I suspect insurance is the reason more aviation groups haven't shown up. That's a significant "i to dot" for most government emergency managers. Pseudo-government and real government agencies can do things to self-insure that the private sector simply can't, so membership in many private SAR groups isn't cheap.
Just one example. Lots more where that one came from. But I doubt you're actually interested enough to follow through on any of this, so explaining it is probably a waste of time.
If you do start a private air-based SAR group, I'd be fascinated to follow your progress. I've always thought such a group could be interestingly effective, but would never be able to hold on to the roughly three to one ratio of pilots to ground personnel it would need at a bare minimum to handle the full job. Especially if the memberships were as expensive as I suspect they would be.
As a Comm guy I hated paying CAP dues. Especially as the responsibility level rose. Paying to go to work, real work, with lives on the line, is dumb. But normal for "volunteer" work these days. The joke in CAP is that CAP stands for "Come and Pay".
And they're subsidized. Unless you could get legitimacy fast in he private group and get on the grant money gravy train, you'd be bankrupt in a few years without dues in the range of $200/month. My rough guess from the dues for private ground ops, anyway.
