An Cosantóir

36 | Tony O'Regan Sgt 1st Class 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) - U.S. Army I'm Dublin inner-city born-and-bred and was always into the army, having spent many years of my youth in the Boy Scouts. I spent two years with 2 AD Bty FCÁ in Griffith Bks before I joined the PDF in 1978. I was trained in the General Training Depot in the Curragh and then I went to Depot Arty (now the Arty Sch) to do my gunnery training before being posted to 1 AD Bty in Magee Bks, Kildare Town. In 1980 I completed the Potential NCO course with the CTD E in Cathal Brugha Bks. I stayed on in Cathal Brugha Bks as an instructor with my old FCÁ unit before returning to Depot Arty as an instructor. I served in the ARW from 1982 to 1989 and I have also completed three overseas trips with 53, 61, and 72 Inf Bns to Lebanon. Following completion of my Senior NCO course in 1988 I returned to CTD E where I instructed from 1989-1999. After that I emigrated to the United Sates. I had been heavily involved in Kempo for years and had been to the US many times for competitions and I'd made a lot of friends there. I started off running a dive store but before long I joined the US army, through the National Guard, and a whole other career opened up for me. I went through basic combat training in Fort Knox, Kentucky, then rigger school in Fort Lee, Virginia before joining a mechanised infantry reconnaissance unit in Boston. After that I went to the National Training Centre (NTC) as part of an air-mobile operational training force, which is basically a 'hunter-killer' force. During my training in Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert I won the Best Soldier award in 2001. Then when 9/11 happened I went back to my unit, which had changed from a mechanised to a light infantry unit. Although I was 47 at this stage I decided to try for the US Special Forces, which meant I had to do selection all over again. Out of 600 guys, 109 of us passed selection, which was 20hrs a day over 8 weeks with a 65lb pack and at one time was -40º. Since then I have been on active service on several occasions, both working as an instructor and on operations. The years of training I received in the DF on things like small team tactics, night ops, raids, and direct action, were all of great benefit to me in the US Forces. I'm very proud of my DF roots and I'm always telling people where I came from – the Irish Defence Forces. I have been on active service from 2004-07 as part of Special Forces JFK Special Warfare School and have served in Afghanistan twice, including 18 months with the Emergency Reaction Team in the US Embassy in Kabul in 2008; I have also served in Africa including places like Somalia, Mali and Senegal. At present I am an E7 (Sgt 1st Class) qualified for promotion to E8 (Master Sergeant). I have six years left to serve, and I'm confident I will see that time out. I have now over 38 years service in the military and I believe the US SF are second to none. "I'm very proud of my DF roots and I'm always telling people where I came from – the Irish Defence Forces." An Cosantóir May 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie

• Cover