An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 33 O ver the past number of years, the Defence Forces Physical Education School (DFPES) has accrued a great deal of expertise and national recognition through its work in assisting high performance teams, national and international, in preparing for competitions. Within the past 12 months alone the DFPES has assisted Connaught RFC, Ireland and Leinster under-20s, and, most recently, the Irish ladies hockey team, as well as a host of inter-county football and hurling teams. With our increased knowledge gained through this experience the school now prides itself on being a centre of excellence in the areas of physical preparation, mental condition- ing, and team dynamics. In order to utilise our academic and experi- ential skillset, the DFPES decided to launch the inaugural DFPES Military Challenge in March 2018. The challenge tests participating teams in a number of key areas: military fitness, commu- nication, teamwork and leadership. From an administrational and logistical per- spective, the DFPES have made this challenge as user friendly as possible by providing the ob- stacle course, the replica weapons, the changing and shower facilities; units just need to provide a team of ten members. The course simulates the robust environment of the combat soldier and for its duration teams must always remain disciplined, decisive, and physically able. Losing personal discipline is met with time penalties, so it is imperative that the leader continually motivates and refocuses his troops from start to finish. Our objectives are both short and long term. In the short term this military challenge will allow young soldiers and junior leaders to get back to doing what they enjoy best, which is competitive soldiering, and it is hoped that the competition will enhance unit esprit de corps and reignite unit rivalries as it progresses. In the long term it is hoped that the chal- lenge will give junior leaders within the or- ganisation regular opportunities to improve their leadership skills in a robust, competi- tive environment. It is also hoped that it will give the individual soldier the opportunity to maintain and improve his or her levels of fitness as well as perfecting the military skills of teamwork, fieldcraf t and communication in a competitive environment. The competition runs throughout the year and concludes in early December when the winning team – the one that completes the challenge in the lowest time – are invited to the School for the presentation of the DFPES Military Challenge Cup. Pictured are members of the 1 MIC, DFTC who took part the DFPES Military Challenge trial run in August 2018.

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