The Turkish Army, embarrassed by its inability to deal with the recent earthquakes, has formed a new Search & Rescue (SAR) battalion. This unit has 178 troops and three S-70 BlackHawk helicopters optimized for search and rescue missions. It has three teams (each with one helicopter). In the event of a disaster, one team can reach any point in Turkey in three hours and, once there, will have enough of its own supplies and equipment to conduct 16 Search & Rescue flights.--Stephen V Cole