00-An Cos-OCT-07 (p1-11) 23/11/2007 14:47 Page 1 THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE (ESTABLISHED 1940) OCT-NOV 2007 €2.50 (Stg £1.70) Bosnia p.13 PDFORRA p.22 Book Review p.29 ISSN 0010-9460 0 8 9 770010 946001 00-An Cos-OCT-07 (p1-11) 23/11/2007 14:47 Page 2 00-An Cos-OCT-07 (p1-11) 29/11/2007 15:16 Page 3 An Cosantóir VOLUME 67 Number 8 Oct-Nov 2007 MANAGER: News Update 2007 10K Capt Pádraic Kennedy Picture Parade. 4 Results 2 0 Another successful day EDITOR: at the races! Sgt David Nagle Report by Sgt David Nagle JOURNALIST: Terry McLaughlin Wesley Bourke EUFOR – Rebuilding EUFOR – ‘Weeds CONNECT: Bosnia 7 of Death’ 2 2 Sgt Willie Braine Defence Forces personnel play a Defence Forces use their vital role with EUFOR in Bosnia. expertise in de-mining PHOTOGRAPHER: Report by Bosnia. Armn Billy Galligan Wesley Bourke Report by Wesley Bourke SUBSCRIPTIONS: Sgt Rena Kennedy EUFOR – The On Exhibit Profile of Mid-Shipman ADVERTISING: Irish in Butmir 8 2 5 Charles Lucas VC. Killelan Marketing Ltd Senior Irish Soldiers hold Report by Mobile: 086 3842946 key appointments in HQ Col JAV Mortell (Retd) Tel: 01 8042691 EUFOR at Camp Butmir. Email: [email protected] Report by Wesley Bourke Printed by Kilkenny People, OSCE Moving Forward Mission profile in brief. Kilkenny. 1 2 The 2007 PDFORRA 2 6 Report by Conference. The fact that an article Sgt David Nagle Report by appears in this magazine does Sgt David Nagle not indicate official approval of the views expressed by the author. EUMM Book Review © Published by Mission profile in brief. A look at Irishmen in OiC Public Relations Section 1 3 2 8 Report by foreign armies. for the Defence Forces at Wesley Bourke Review by DFHQ, Parkgate, Dublin 8, Sgt David Nagle Ireland. Tel: 01 8042691 Fax: 01 6779018 E-mail: ancosantoir EUFOR – An Military @defenceforces.iol.ie Inspector Calls… 1 5 Insignia 2 9 Front cover: Maintaining checks on Badges of the PDF Flash worn by the Irish EUFOR former warring factions Cavalry Corps. Verification Team. weapons. Report by Report by Wesley Bourke Flt Sgt Jim G Perkins EUFOR – Letter to Policing Butmir 1 8 the Editor 3 0 Irish Military Police in Readers give their Bosnia take their job very opinions. seriously. www.military.ie/pr/an_cosantoir Report by Wesley Bourke AN COSANTÓIR October-November 2007 3 00-An Cos-OCT-07 (p1-11) 23/11/2007 15:02 Page 4 news update… news update… news update… Treading Water Pictured here are the students and instructors of the Irish Water Safety Swimming Teacher’s Course held in the DFPES in September. Photo by: Cpl John Kelly. Marathon Men During the recent People in Need Telethon Gunners from 4 Fd Arty Regt, Columb Bks, Mullingar, took to the streets of the town in a marathon combat run. Wearing full pack, the gunners completed laps of the town and ran the equivalent of 26.6 miles. People were very supportive and gave generously to the collectors. Thanks to Tesco Shopping Centre who gave their support. The run Third on top was followed up with an auction in the On Oct 16th in Nolan Park, Kilkenny, the 3 Inf Bn hurlers won NCO Mess that night. This year to date the 4 Fd Arty Regt has raised in excess of the1 S Bde Hurling Final, beating the 4 Inf Bn 3-15 to 0-8. Sgt € Barry McCarthy’s photo shows Brig Gen Pat Hayes (GOC 1 S 25,000 for charities. Pictured here are Bde) presenting Capt Conor O' Shea (Team Capt) with the members of 4 Fd Arty Regt after the brigade cup. marathon run. Where are Pulling they now? Power Members of B Coy 23 Inf Bn FCÁ on Cpl Mick Relihan’s Summer Camp in Templebreedy, (4 Cav Sqn) photo Crosshaven, 1964/1965: shows troopers from Connolly Bks who 1. Jim ‘Junior’ Foley pulled an armoured 2. Fintan Sheehan car on October 19th 3. Dave Mulcahy from Edgewordstown 4. Pat Twomey to Longford Town. No 5. Pat Manning they didn’t run out of 6. Séamus O’Driscoll petrol, but took to the 7. Joe Spicer road and raised over 8. Paul Dillon €3,500 for the People in Need Telethon. 9. Barry Murphy 10. Alec Ray 11, Mick O’Donovan 12. Eddie Lee 13. Willie Ray 14. Anthony Moore 15. Jerry Hurley 16. George Spicer 17. John Cahill Any information contact the Editor. Kick the ball! On Oct 6th, Three DF Teams (One Army, one Naval Service and one Air Corps) took part in a 7-A-Side Gaelic Football Tournament in Lucan, Dublin. Organised by the Security and Emergency Services Ireland Forum saw seven teams from the south and five from the North taking part. These included teams from the Gardai, PSNI, Prison Service, Dublin Fire Brigade, Ambulance Service and the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade. The Army lost to the Gardai in the Cup Semi Final and the Air Corps won the Shield Competition, beating the Naval Service. Flt Sgt Rick Kearns photo shows the combined DF players. 4 AN COSANTÓIR October-November 2007 00-An Cos-OCT-07 (p1-11) 23/11/2007 15:02 Page 5 te… news update… news update… news update… Representing In the Series Army Now Pictured in GAA HQ in Croke Park are (l-R): Mr Brig Gen Chris Moore Eugene Sheehy (CEO AIB), Mr Nicky Brennan (GAA (ACOS) is seen here con- Chairman) and Maj Gen Pat Sullivan (D COS Sp). Maj gratulating new dentist Gen Sullivan presents Mr Sheehy with a memento (Now Captain) Patrick marking the 25 years of the representative series, Meehan. Also pictured out- which sees Gaelic footballers from the Defence Forces side the Offrs Mess, McKee and the banks compete each year. Photo by: Armn Bks are(l-r): Col Joseph Billy Galligan. Monaghan (DMC), Miss Susan O’Kelly and Lt Col Peter Hayden. Photo by: Armn Billy Galligan. NEWS UPDAATE Simply the best Congratulations to (l-r) Rec Brian McLoughlin (Best shot), Rec Michael Green (Best Soldier) and Rec Sean Doyle (Best Kit) who passed out along with their col- leagues with the 119 Rec Pl, B Coy, 4 Inf Bn on Oct 25th in Collins Bks, Cork. Photo by: Sgt Barry McCarthy. 3 7 1 11 17 2 12 4 9 6 10 8 5 13 16 14 15 Anyone for Strike a Cricket? pose Armn Billy Galligan’s photo shows Armn Billy Galligan (Photo Sec) the Defence Forces Cricket Team is a face that is well known outside the Phoenix Park throughout the Defence Forces Clubhouse during a match against as the resident An Cosantóir An Garda Siochána in October. photographer. This time Billy had Cricket as a sport has seen a to pose for the camera when in resurgence in recent times, October he received Diplomas in especially in the Air Corps and Public Relations and Event Naval Service. Management from the PRII. AN COSANTÓIR October-November 2007 5 00-An Cos-OCT-07 (p1-11) 23/11/2007 14:50 Page 6 00-An Cos-OCT-07 (p1-11) 23/11/2007 14:50 Page 7 t has been twelve years since a Nato-led coalition (EUMM), and the Organisation for Security and Co- attacked Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina operation in Europe (OSCE). An Cosantoir’sWesley (BiH) and broke the siege of Sarajevo. Although Bourke and Armn Billy Galligan recently visited Ithe war is over the scars are still visible. Sarajevo to find out about peacekeeping in BiH. Stockpiles of weapons remain and minefields and For Irish troops, peacekeeping in BiH is not like any unexploded ordnance (UXOs) still litter the country- other overseas’ mission as there is no Irish battalion EUFOR side. Many international agencies are helping to or company on the ground. Instead, the Defence rebuild the country and provide a stable and secure Forces personnel in BiH are highly skilled and occupy environment for its people. The Defence Forces cur- specialist officer and NCO appointments and a tour rently has 40 personnel serving in the region with can be anything from six to eighteen months, depend- EUFOR, the European Union Monitoring Mission ing on the job and organisation. The bulk of Irish personnel are currently serving in EUFOR with 6 IRCON, which arrived in July this year. EUFOR has been in existence since December 2004 when it took over from the Nato-led Sfor. Under the United Nations Charter Chapter VII, the mission ensures continued compliance with the Dayton/Paris Peace Accord (General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH) and contributes to a safe and secure environment in the country. Commanded by German Rear-Admiral Hans- Jochen Witthauer, EUFOR has recently scaled down from 6,000 to 2,500 personnel. Located in a former Yugoslavian airforce base, Camp Butmir is home to personnel from 34 nations including Ireland. As well as being able to respond to any situation in BiH EUFOR’s Multinational Manoeuvre Battalion can also provide support for KFOR if needed. In this issue we take a look at the various roles the Irish military play in bringing peace to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina.■ For Irish troops, peacekeeping in BiH is not like any other overseas’ mission as there is no Irish bat- talion or company on the ground. Instead, the Defence Forces personnel in BiH are highly skilled and occupy specialist officer and NCO appointments and a tour can be anything from six to eighteen months, depending on the job and organisation.