An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 15 reality for this complex mission. I then delivered the operations brief, using the Recognised Maritime Picture on a large screen as the basis to discuss the major actors in the Central Mediterranean area, including the dispositions of Italian Navy ships and merchant vessels of interest (VOIs), which are potentially engaged in running the Libyan arms embargo or the UN Resolution on oil smuggling. The brief included known Libyan maritime militia activity and how it might affect human smuggling for the next 24 hrs. I described the locations and projected activities of non-govern- mental and third-party vessels and the concurrent air operations of other agencies and organisations whose area of operations overlaps our own. Finally, I detailed the last 24 hrs and outlined the next 24hrs of activity of the hard working maritime patrol aircraft fleet dedi- cated to Op Sophia. After taking several questions from the Deputy Operation Com- mander, a French admiral, I handed over to the representative of CJ1 (Personnel), CPO James Bartley (NS), who gave an overview of the strength and critical shortfalls of the mission staff. My newly-arrived relief as JOC director, Cdr Kenneth Minehane (NS), the fourth Defence Forces contributor to the brief, then stepped up to the podium to address the assembled staff. Cdr Minehane spoke about his previous experience in the Mediterranean theatre, having been with each of our ships during Ireland's missions with Operation Pontus in 2015 and 2016, before serving with Op Sophia as Force Protection Officer in 2018 for two tours of duty. This is, therefore, his third tour in Op Sophia OHQ. I was then given the opportunity to address my colleagues per- sonally, and expressed my gratitude for the camaraderie that I had experienced with these European military personnel from all three services, in the busy Joint Operational HQ. I also described the sense of the importance of this mission to European security that I had gained as JOC Director. From the heart of the mission's information flow I had had an overview of the full spectrum of Op Sophia's efforts, and the extent and seriousness of the activities that we have observed, and against which our force, fragile as it may currently be, is the front line for Europe. The brutal, human smuggling engaged in by criminals on a well-documented scale raises the possibility that certain actors may, directly or by proxy, gain control of that trade and of the oil trade in Libya, allowing the exertion of terrible pressure on the EU. This combination of human rights, economic risk, and geopolitical manoeuvring on the EU's southern border has produced a febrile and dangerous situation. I reminded my colleagues that from 2015 to 2018 Ireland had gone from being a military non-contributor to being one of the top five EU contributors, with three ships, each with 57 crew, plus two OHQ appointments and two Force HQ appointments. Although all EU naval ships, including ours, had been withdrawn from Op Sophia in March 2019, evidence of the effectiveness of the Irish contribution was to be found in this very MUB, which was almost entirely delivered by Irish personnel in key positions. I pointed out that most EU militaries were relatively small, like ours, but that the EU allows small nations like us to make a meaningful and effective contribution. This gives an important leavening by smaller countries of the military approach, which might otherwise be taken by the larger countries. It allows a place on the international stage for an Irish military contribution, which spares nothing in its robustness but is conscious of the deep traditions that this country brings to bear in its foreign and security policy choices. I departed the OHQ with that sense, familiar to all military personnel, of having been part of something special that was now over, and of having made real friends among a disparate and talented group of like-minded, motivated professionals from all over the EU. I returned home to a Naval Service that is frankly under pressure, but I had the space and detachment brought about by six months in an overseas environment to keep our challenges in perspective and in context. The Defence Forces, and in particular the Naval Ser- vice and its people, are every bit as capable as any other nation, and in the case of Op Sophia we bring our unique experience of air and sea operations from an unaligned but militarily competent island nation to the mission. My tour in Op Sophia reaffirmed for me the quality of our Defence Forces and the importance of protecting it in the national interest and the EU's interest. Ireland currently contributes three personnel to the Op Sophia's OHQ in Rome. (EU missions' OHQs are located in member states, usually maintained by the national military of those states.) OHQ Rome was activated to deliver EUNAVFOR MED, later named Op Sophia, on foot of EU Council Decision 2015/972 on 22 June 2015. The Irish contingent consists of one commander and one chief petty officer from the Naval Service and one captain from the Air Corps. Currently, the captain is in the intelligence section (CJ2), the CPO is in the personnel section (CJ1) and the commander is in the operations section as Director of the Joint Operations Centre. Op Sophia is the military part of the broader EU comprehensive response to the migration issue, which seeks to address not only its physical component, but also its root causes, including conflict, poverty, climate change and persecution. The mission's core mandate is to undertake systematic efforts to

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