An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 9 Living the DREAM BY LORCAN BARRON G nr Lee Bracken (28) from Mullingar joined the Defence Forces in 2014 and is currently stationed with 2 Arty Regt in Custume Military Barracks, Athlone. Lee is involved in all aspects of his military career. In the short time since he enlisted he has com- pleted a number of courses that relate to his work: the Artillery Gunners course; RPAS course, flying small drones; M-Uav Technician course, for the large army drones; and most recently, the Military Static-Line Parachute course. Lee has also served overseas with the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon in 2018. As to as his career aspirations, Lee would like to progress through the ranks and build on all the experience he has gained while serving his country. Lee also has a passion for motorsport and has been actively involved in two different aspects of the sport. He has worked for many years as a camera- man with On the Limit Sports, covering various rally championships in Ireland, notably the Triton National Rally Championship, Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship. Through this work he has received many awards, including an Appreciation Award from Motorsport Ireland for drone shots of the 2013 rally season. Lee also films music concerts, festivals and corpo- rate videos. In 2017 Lee purchased a rally car, a Honda Civic, with a view to competing in the National Forestry Championship. Setting about his new task with his usual enthusiasm, Lee stripped the car down and over an 18-month period, with the help of McConnell Motor- sport, he worked until he eventually had what he desired. It was time to compete. Lee's first event was Limerick Forestry 2018, where he finished third in class; a huge achievement in his first rally. He then competed in the Carrick Forestry where he came first in his class. Lee had the bug, and over the winter months he decided to upgrade his car for the 2019 season. In that season Lee has come first in his class in the Carrick-on-Suir Forestry, Cork Forestry, Moonraker Forestry and Limerick Forestry rallies, culminating in winning the overall class winner for the 2019 Valvoline Irish Forestry Rally Championship. We wish Lee the best for the future, both in his military career and motorsport activities.

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