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Your Defence Forces Newsletter National Memorial Guard A s part of the DF activities in the lead up to the centenary of the foundation of, "The Irish Voulnteers, Óglaigh na hÉireann," a ceremonial military guard has been approved at the site of the National Memorial to DF members who died in the service of the State. A military guard will be posted every Saturday throughout July and August for one hour, with 21 and 31 August having a double display. The guard will be drawn from each of the seven infantry battalions and the two artillery regiments as well as the Naval Service and Air Corps. Further information will be published on military.ie. Steyr News Ceremonial Suicide Prevention Programme A number of new ceremonial Steyr's have been commissioned. The rifles (pictured here) are for National Ceremonies and come complete with a new paint job and a chrome bayonet. The rifles will be issued for the main dress rehearsal and the ceremony itself. The first issuance of the rifles is expected later this year. T Mid-life Upgrade Trials are underway as part of the midlife upgrade programme for the Steyr rifle. The upgrade will consist of a new sight, housing group with picatinny rails, new grenade launcher and a new sling; left handed variants will also be made available. The first round of the trials are being conducted at the moment by the 27th Inf Bn. Their feedback will be included in the decision making process as they will be trialling multiple configurations of the items on test. When the trials are completed, it is expected that operational units will receive up to 6,000 of the new 'product improved' variant with remaining DF and RDF personnel to continue to utilise the standard A1 currently in service. he Defence Forces are now using STORM® (Skills-based Training On Risk Management) to help selected personnel to assess and manage suicide crisis' more effectively. The STORM® Programme was developed by Prof. Linda Gask & Dr Jill Green of Manchester University and provides personnel with the necessary skills to assess the risk and help keep a person safe. It is intended that the training programme will be rolled out in the next couple of weeks. New League A new tactical and weapons skills league has been announced for the 1 Bde, 2 Bde and DFTC. The league will incorporate results from the recce, sniper, mortar, javelin and 84mm concentrations as well as the anti-armour, all arms shooting and military skills competitions. These competitions were previously conducted on a stand alone basis, but will now be scored and ranked on a table which will be updated after each event on the J7 website and the Electronic Notice Board. The scoring system recognises that there is a different number and type of unit in each formation. The league will culminate with the Small Arms Shooting and Military Skills Competition, where the winners will be decided and prizes awarded.

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