As part of my Denali adventure many moons ago, at the very end once we were back in the lowlands, we spent one final day on SAR training. As luck would have it, I got to be the victim, hoisted up through the hatch in the aircraft. There is a reason they call that aperture "The Hell Hole."

The deal there was about what we have described earlier in this thread - the military involvement was charged to training in support of NPS operations. I have seen the same general arrangement in other settings. As a taxpayer, I have always thought it a useful, sensible, and humane use of tax dollars

I have very nearly dirtied up my mess gear working around choppers on actual SAR operations. I suspect folks who mess around with helos routinely lead very eventful lives that are somewhat shorter than average.

NPS = NationalParkService