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Fort Davis
orces Training Facility
Defence F
by Lt William Halpin (1 Cav Sqn) Photos by A/Sea David Jones
F
ort Davis is a training facility in
1 Bde that affords the Defence
Forces a unique environment to
conduct a variety of training and has
been heavily used by the Army, Naval
Service and Air Corps over the last
number of years.
At a demonstration day held to
outline the scope of training opportunities available at Fort Davis,
unit 2i/cs, ops officers and ops NCOs
turned up from throughout the
Defence Forces. The day focused on
the fort's primary training opportunities, including boat insertion and
pier landing using Naval Service RIBs;
NVE, CTI, C-IED/IEDD, and FIBUA
stands; and the airlift of an infantry
assault bridge.
This was a substantial operation,
with equipment and personnel
provided by 1 Cav Sqn, 4 Inf Bn, 3 Inf
Bn, 12 Inf Bn, 1 Fd Eng Coy, 1 Mp Coy,
Med Coy 1 LSB, Ord Coy 1 LSB, and
1 CIS Coy, with additional support
provided by the Artillery School,
the Air Corps and the Naval Service.
Fort Davis staff and personnel from
1 Maintenance Engineers were also
instrumental in preparing the fort for
the day.
The boat insertion and pier landing, conducted from LE Ciara, gave
a good demonstration of the fort's
potential to be used in joint service
training and gives training staff an
alternative to overland insertions.
The fort's tunnel network provides
ample opportunities to train individuals in the use of NVE and TI in
clearance operations in an enclosed
environment. The visiting training
personnel were provided with NVE
and rotated through the tunnels
where different scenarios had been
set up for them to view.
Fort Davis is also excellent for
confidence training, with good opAn Cosantóir June 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie
