An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 17 In September, Irish members of the battalion attended our Polish contingent's Mission Readiness Exercise (MRE) in Poland. This was the first official meeting of the contingents and allowed both sides to gain a greater understanding of each other prior to deployment. In early November, 115 Inf Bn officially deployed to Lebanon, with the transfer of authority taking place on 15 November. Combined patrols kicked into full swing straight away. Irish troops took the lead on this, and knowledge built-up over decades of deployments to the region came to the fore as they led their colleagues on patrol- ling and AO familiarisation. This was Poland's first venture back into peacekeeping in 10 years, and with that came a determination to hit the ground running and an enthusiasm for the job at hand. Essential to the success of the mission would be to ensure that a language barrier would not be an issue. Within days, Irish person- nel could be heard greeting their Polish comrades with "Czesc!" (Hi) or "Dzien dobry!" (Good day), or their Maltese counterparts with "Kif inti?" (How are you?), or"Szia!" (Hi) to their Hungarian colleagues. In November, the battalion conducted an interoperability brief and display. The display helped the soldiers from the various contin- gents to gain a greater understanding of each other's equipment and capabilities. It gave personnel the chance to get behind the wheel of a Mowag or the Polish Wolverine, to get to grips with dif- ferent weaponry, and allowed specialists of all corps compare notes on their respective equipment. A mutual confidence has been ever present in the relation- ship of IRISHPOLBATT. An understanding of each other's history combined with consummate professionalism has underpinned the confidence in each other's capabilities that is fundamental to interoperability. This, however, did not just happen through good fortune or chance. Both sides have actively engaged in forging a relationship that would withstand the challenges of a testing environment. One of IRISHPOLBATT'S first major events was the visit of Mariusz Błaszczak, Poland's Minister of National Defence in early Decem- ber. During his visit the minister thanked the Defence Forces for its support and dedication in assisting Poland's return to peacekeeping after a decade. Great emphasis was placed on the transition of platoons on the outposts of UNP 6-50 and 6-52. UNP 6-52 would remain in control of an Irish platoon for the 115 Bn tour while UNP 6-50 would be occupied by a Polish platoon. The transition of UNP 6-50 was achieved by splitting the occupying platoon into half Irish and half Polish for a period of time. This allowed the Polish platoon to un- derstudy the Irish troops, many of which had previous experience on the outposts of the IRISHPOLBATT AO. This knowledge allowed soldiers to bring their comrades up to speed as the handover was achieved seamlessly. The outposts are the Battalions eyes and ears along the Blue Line. Accurate and prompt reporting from both outposts is essential to facilitate the unit in having early detection at possible changes of posture within the AO. Interoperability is a continuous process that IRISHPOLBATT has continued to build on throughout the weeks and months since deployment. Also in December, A Coy took the lead on a military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) exercise, which tested the battalion in its operational ability to search and clear buildings with sections and platoons from both contingents. Lessons learned from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq came into play with our Polish and Hungarian counterparts displaying outstand- ing skills and drills as IRISHPOLBATT operated seamlessly through- out the exercise. The work and commitment to interoperability that IRISHPOL- BATT has demonstrated through its early stages of deployment has already laid the foundations for future battalions to flourish in what is an ever-changing mission area in Southern Lebanon. The battalion conducted an interoperability brief and display in November. Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) exercise in December. Mariusz Błaszczak, Poland's Minister of National Defence speakes to IRISHPOLBATT members. The battalion conducted an interoperability brief and display in November.

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