Search and Rescue HQ Operational Progression

Search and Rescue HQ provides the structured command, aerial-search, operational-support and specialist-personnel layer used by verified high-risk missing-person and major cross-service search incidents. The safe planning unit is a complete search system, not one active Drone or one SAR 4x4.

Current evidence baseline: 28 July 2026.

Command doctrine

Command before volume — Control Van, SAR Commander and Search Advisor capability must exist before expanding search generators.
Generation prerequisites remain separate — an active Drone can be required before mission generation while a Police Helicopter may satisfy the incident aerial-search slot.
Preserve alternative groups — operational support and 4x4 rows require the published group quantity, not every listed resource.
Personnel states before vehicle counts — available, required and average-minimum fields must retain their semantics.
Regional coverage before central storage — off-road access, command and search support must reach the intended terrain.
Recovery before further activation — searches, patients and remote travel can keep resources unavailable after the visible phase completes.

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Search system chain

Search and Rescue HQ mission generation
                ↓
Active Drone prerequisite where published
                ↓
Control Van and command personnel
                ↓
Aerial-search alternative
                ↓
Operational-support alternative
                ↓
Mountain Rescue / SAR 4x4 alternatives
                ↓
Search personnel, patient handling and recovery

Verified resources

Resource	Verified role	Current evidence boundary
Control Van	Incident command and search coordination	Price, staffing, training and building relationship unpublished
Drone	Aerial search, reconnaissance and deployable equipment	25,000 credits / 15 coins; Drone Operator education; Fire or Police equipment storage; course duration unpublished
Police Helicopter	Police air support and aerial search	Police Helicopter Station; Police aviation, 7 days
Mountain Rescue 4x4	Off-road Mountain Rescue response	Price, staffing and training unpublished
SAR 4x4	Off-road Search and Rescue response	Price, staffing and training unpublished
Operational Support Van	Search support and incident logistics	Economics, staffing and building relationship unpublished
Operational Support Trailer	Search support trailer	Compatible towing vehicle unpublished
Personal SAR Vehicle	Personnel transport and search support	Economics, staffing and building relationship unpublished
Search Dog Unit	Terrain and missing-person search	Economics, staffing, training and building relationship unpublished

Active Drone semantics

The verified High Risk and Very High Risk Missing Person missions require one active Drone before generation.

The same mission also publishes an incident response alternative:

Police Helicopter OR Drone — quantity 1

These are separate concepts:

the active Drone is a generation prerequisite;
the aerial-response slot can be satisfied by either listed resource;
the prerequisite does not automatically dispatch the Drone;
a Police Helicopter does not remove the need for the active-Drone prerequisite.

Operational-support alternatives

One qualifying resource satisfies the verified operational-support group:

Operational Support Van;
Operational Support Trailer;
Personal SAR Vehicle.

Do not require all three simultaneously.

Trailer boundary

The Operational Support Trailer is verified as a trailer, but its compatible towing vehicles remain unpublished. Do not count the trailer as independently dispatchable until its current game behaviour is directly reproduced.

Off-road alternatives

Verified SAR missions require two qualifying vehicles in total from:

Mountain Rescue 4x4;
SAR 4x4.

Any valid combination may satisfy the group where supported. Do not require two of each.

Personnel model

Verified SAR roles include:

SAR Commander;
Search Advisor;
Search Technician.

Available before generation

The verified High Risk and Very High Risk Missing Person records publish:

4 SAR Commanders available;
2 Search Advisors available.

Required at the incident

The same missions publish:

2 SAR Commanders required;
1 Search Advisor required.

Average-minimum semantics

Where Search Technician demand is published as average_minimum, it must not be represented as an exact guaranteed count. Use Mission Lookup to inspect the current mission field rather than converting the role into a fixed dispatch rule.

Representative mission pressure

High Risk Missing Person

Verified response:

1 Control Van;
3 Police Cars;
1 Police Helicopter or Drone;
2 Mountain Rescue 4x4s and/or SAR 4x4s;
1 Operational Support Van, Trailer or Personal SAR Vehicle;
2 required SAR Commanders;
1 required Search Advisor;
1 patient generated at mission end;
40% transport probability and 5% critical-care probability;
2 Search and Rescue HQs and 1 active Drone as preconditions.

Very High Risk Missing Person

The verified structure is the same, with 5 Police Cars rather than 3 and a higher average reward. It remains a one-patient mission with the same transport and critical-care probabilities.

Transparent concurrency calculation

Running both verified missing-person missions together creates:

2 Control Vans;
8 Police Cars;
2 independent aerial-search slots;
4 qualifying Mountain Rescue/SAR 4x4 slots;
2 operational-support slots;
4 required SAR Commanders;
2 required Search Advisors;
up to 2 patients generated at mission end.

This is a calculation from two verified missions, not an official combined mission. Active-Drone preconditions are generation conditions rather than dispatch quantities and are not converted into two guaranteed Drone responses.

Major cross-service searches

Large railway, cave and remote incidents may add:

Search Dog Units;
several operational-support alternatives;
Police Helicopter or Drone capability;
Railway Police and EIU;
Fire, HART, Welfare and mass-casualty resources;
Cave Rescue Specialist and Operational Team Leader roles.

Use Mission Lookup for each incident rather than applying the two missing-person templates universally.

Six commissioning gates

Gate	Question	Recommended pass condition
HQ readiness	Are command, support and off-road systems available?	The HQ creates an operational chain rather than only a generator
Drone prerequisite	Is the required active equipment present?	Generation prerequisites are met without confusing them with response rows
Command personnel	Are SAR Commander and Search Advisor states ready?	Available and required values are both supported
Alternative groups	Can one valid resource satisfy each published group?	No group is multiplied into every listed option
Geography	Can resources reach the search area and patient access point?	Route-based coverage is practical
Recovery	Can a second search begin after the first?	Command, support, aerial and off-road reserve returns to useful positions

Recommended fleet templates

These are strategy recommendations, not official requirements.

Foundation SAR network

Capability	Recommended position
Search and Rescue HQ	Build only when the complete command/support chain can be commissioned
Control Van	1 local unit with trained/assigned command personnel
Drone	1 active item with Drone Operator capability where required
Off-road response	3–4 qualifying Mountain Rescue/SAR 4x4s across the first region
Operational support	1 verified option; avoid trailer dependence until towing is understood
Protected reserve	Alliance support for rare second incidents while local depth develops

Developing network

Capability	Recommended position
HQs	Two operational HQ regions where current mission preconditions require them
Control Vans	One per main response region plus replacement staffing
Aerial search	Drone route plus Police Helicopter fallback or alliance support
Off-road response	6–8 qualifying 4x4s across two search zones
Operational support	Two independently dispatchable support options
Personnel	Required and replacement SAR Commander/Search Advisor cohorts

Established network

Capability	Recommended position
HQ and command	Independently dispatchable regional search groups
Aerial search	Multiple active and response-capable options without one trained-person failure point
Off-road response	Sized from measured simultaneous searches and remote return times
Operational support	Vehicle/trailer/personal options distributed by geography and towing certainty
Dogs and specialists	Regional Search Dog and specialist-personnel reserve
Cross-service resilience	Police, Mountain Rescue, HART, Railway and medical dependencies tested together

Placement doctrine

Urban/peri-urban missing-person network

Position Control Vans and Police support near population and transport corridors.
Keep off-road vehicles close enough for woodland, river and edge-of-city searches.
Use Drone equipment where it adds genuine coverage rather than replacing ground teams.
Preserve Police Car and patient-transport reserve.

Rural and upland network

Align HQ command with Mountain Rescue 4x4/SAR 4x4 geography.
Distribute operational support by travel-time zone.
Maintain aerial-search alternatives for distant searches.
Include custom spawn areas and road access.

Railway and major-incident network

Position search command near railway corridors and major cross-service risks.
Preserve EIU, Railway Police, dogs and operational support independently.
Test multiple command and support slots without reusing one unit.
Include mass-casualty, welfare and patient handling where published.

Recovery-to-readiness

After a search incident:

record Control Vans, off-road resources, aerial assets and support units still committed;
restore one command and off-road response route in each exposed region;
confirm active Drone equipment and operators remain ready;
return SAR Commander and Search Advisor cohorts to useful geography;
review patients and cross-service missions still active;
rerun the selected dual-search scenario;
correct repeated command, support, aerial or personnel shortages before more HQ expansion.

Common failures

Failure	Operational symptom	Correction
Dispatching the active Drone prerequisite	The generation field is treated as a guaranteed response	Keep prerequisite and response alternative separate
Requiring every support option	Fleet plan demands Van, Trailer and Personal SAR Vehicle simultaneously	Apply the quantity to the alternative group
Requiring both 4x4 types	Off-road demand is doubled incorrectly	Use any valid combination across the group
Treating average minimum as exact	Search Technician planning becomes a false fixed rule	Preserve the published personnel semantic
Counting a trailer without towing	Operational Support appears available but may not dispatch	Leave towing unknown until reproduced
Centralising Control Vans	One search removes regional command	Duplicate by travel-time zone
Ignoring personnel availability	Vehicles attend while SAR Commander or Search Advisor requirements remain open	Audit roles separately
Expanding HQs before reserve	New searches generate without a second command/support chain	Commission complete regional readiness first

Operational readiness checklist

Stage 37E completion

Together with Mountain Rescue progression, this guide completes:

off-road and remote-area response;
command, dogs and operational support;
active Drone and aerial-search semantics;
SAR Commander, Search Advisor and specialist-personnel planning;
HART and helicopter overlays;
scalable regional fleet templates;
concurrency and recovery-to-readiness.

The next service programme is Stage 37F — Bomb Disposal and EOD operational progression.