An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 19 Pte Dan Kennedy: Signaller – Pte Kennedy acted as the radio man for the duration, ensuring communication to HQ was maintained at all times, and all report lines were met. In addition to this task, he ensured security was provided as required. Pte Josh Morrissey: FSG – Pte Morrissey acted as FSG and primary se- curity for the patrol. In addition, he supplemented all other elements of the patrol where required, showing high levels of versatility. Most people think when asked about the Cambrian Patrol, that it is just a long walk with a heavy backpack over two days. In reality, the exercise consists of so much more. It attempts to assess the infantry soldier in all their skills. Upon arrival at the Drop-Off-Point, the patrol face their first assessment a full kit inspection. All elements of the patrols kit is searched to ensure the packing list has been adhered to and no personnel has any contraband. Once that is complete, the pa- trol is divided up. Platoon Commanders orders are issued to the patrol commander, the signaller receives his radio equipment, instructions on their use and report lines. The section scribe copies RVs from the map and the Patrol 2IC receives ammunition and other ordnance. The rest of the patrol commences work on the model, in preparation for the return of the patrol commander and the issuing of his orders. This leads to the second area of assessment, which is the issuing of the Pa- trol Commander's orders, and the assessment of his plans to carry out the tasks and mission given to them. In this case it was the conduct of a Close Target Recce (CTR) on a Named Area of Interest (NAI). The section crossed the start line on route to its mission, when they came across a crashed helicopter. Upon inspection it contained a pilot who had lost his arm, an uninjured person who was suffering from shock and a deceased person. The patrol needed to act quickly. Security was deployed and the primary MFR triage-ed the person- nel. The casualties were treated, appropriate reports sent to HQ and additional information acquired from the casualties. Information such as the helicopter had contained a Forward Observation Officer (FOO), who was doing some forward recce on a number of targets. Information such as this was important to gain and log, as it would connect to further information later in the patrol. Once a handover was conducted with the medical staff taking over the casualties, the patrol departed to continue its mission. Upon arrival at the NAI, the patrol stopped short and established themselves in a FRV. The CTR was conducted on the NAI and a full report was put together for HQ. The patrol then continued to the next RV. The patrol arrived at a river, which required them to cross tactically. The river was a 75m crossing in 4-degree water (as stated during a safety brief). Once crossed, they continued to the patrol harbour where the team handed in its CTR report and received orders for the next stage. The Patrol Commander issued a FRAGO and after they conducted some personnel admin, the patrol departed on its second leg. The next stand they reached was a mine clearance and mine recognition lane. While a member of the patrol cleared a path through the minefield, other mines needed to be identified and reported to HQ. The patrol then continued to its next stand, and upon arrival, they were informed that due to a helicopter crash, they had lost their FOO and commander and they required assistance. This link between the medical stand and the TGP stand was required to be identified by the patrol in order to gain high marks during the debrief at the end of the patrol. This stand was a Target Grid Procedure (TGP) and Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) Recognition. Three members of the patrol conducted the TGP and three members were tasked with identifying 15 pieces of armour from pictures and videos. Once completed, the patrol then continued to the next stand. Intelligence had been provided that a group of personnel suspected of shooting down the helicopter and shooting at other UAVs were hiding out at a given location and the team was to RV with friendly forces near that location. Upon arrival, the Patrol Commander was issued with a set of orders, given a thermal imaging drone to use as a recce device and was tasked with conducting a set of quick attack orders and a raid on the location. Upon completion of this raid, the team was also assessed on its Prisoner of War drills and the extrac- tion of information from the surviving enemy. The patrol where required to cross a CBRN contaminated area, in full CBRN equipment, before reaching a decontamination lane and re- moving all contaminated equipment. The patrol finally moved to the De-Brief on all elements of the patrol. It was very important that ev- ery member of the patrol contributed to this debrief and all informa- tion gathered is provided to the intelligence officer. Upon conclusion of this stand, this ended the 2018 Cambrian Patrol Competition. The total distance of this patrol was 67Kms, with an average of 80lbs back pack, rifle (SA80), chest rig and helmet over terrain not dissimilar to that of the Glen of Imaal. The team was presented with a Silver medal following some badly needed rest and relaxation. The 2 Royal Irish from Lisburn hosted the DF unit and proved a valuable asset to the team throughout our time in Wales. They also hosted teams from Bosnia, Moldova, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus. The experi- ence gained by the team will prove significant to all involved in Recce throughout the Defence Forces. 2018 Patrol: Back row l/r: Sgt Anthony O'Malley, Lt Shane Flood, Pte Dan Kennedy, Pte Josh Morrissey, Pte Mark Sweeney, Capt Kevin Lanigan. Front row l/r: Cpl Sean Fleming, A/Cpl Ciaran Shelly, Pte Paddy Heffernan, Cpl Blaine Donovan

• Cover