An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 23 T he month of March is usually a wet and windy pe- riod, and it was between March 11th to 14th - when the Dublin based 7 Inf Bn held a 3-day long battal- ion exercise in the Glen of Imaal area, of Co. Wicklow. The exercise involved up to 130 personnel from the battalion, this troop list included 17 members from the battalion's Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) C and D Com- panies. The exercise was held in conjunction with the Military College's NCO Training Wing (NCOTW), who were them- selves running the Infantry Platoons Sergeants Course. The 7 Inf Bn now has a history dating back several years of holding joint exercises with the Curragh based NCOTW, in locations such as Kilworth and Fort Davis in Cork harbour. This latest joint venture in the Glen was to include a company level dig-in, a task which requires considerable logistical support, in this case including JCB diggers and a Gator All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) for moving defensive stores expansive dig-in site. Although there were many other taskings on the exercise, including maintaining a battalion tactical HQ and the deployment of sniper teams, the main event was most certainly the company level dig-in itself. Then the following defensive measures exercised by the Bn/ NCOTW troops once they were in place. The exercise troops, who were self-sufficient living on issued ration packs, were to spend a total of 3-nights on the ground, not an easy task this time of year, with the persistent rain which is all too familiar to DF personnel who know the Glen of Imaal area. The exercise had all the standard infantry tasks such as sentry duties, patrols and calls to stand-too. The trenches dug by and lived in by the company were a reminder that even 100 years on from the First World War, some things have not changed for the 'Poor Bloody Infantry'. While there was a tasked 7 Inf Bn enemy party deployed to counter the dug-in company troops, the pri- mary adversary to everybody involved was the weather. The sometimes-heavy rain was sporadic and even expected, but there was constant freezing high winds all the time over the 72 hours on the ground, these winds never seemed to stop, either day or night and at times seemed to reach gale force strength. The company on the hilltop dig-in site had little natural protection from the wind, which seemed to cut through any and all protective clothing worn by the troops. For the NCOTW students on the exercise, it was a practical opportunity to display that it's not just enough for an infantry leader to survive in a challenging environ- ment, but to survive and to go on to motivate, manage and lead troops in that same challenging environment. During the exercise GOC 2 Bde, Brig Gen Howard Berney visited the 7 inf Bn tactical HQ for an exercise briefing by Bn OC Lt Col Seán Ó Fátharta. The general then went on to visit the infantry company still in the process of digging their trenches up on the hill site. While there he spoke to many Ptes, NCOs and Officers involved, asking them for their insights on the exercise. On 'ENDEX', the 7 Inf Bn departed the Glen of Imaal to return to Cathal Brugha Bks while the NCOTW students returned to their home station in the DFTC, another joint exercise concluded, and a lot of well-earned lessons marked down in waterproof notebooks.

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