An Cosantóir

Drive, Determination and | 15 t ommitmen C G aisce, the President's Award, is an awards scheme for young people between the ages of 15 and 25. There are three awards: bronze, silver and gold. Affiliated to the Duke of Edinburgh International Awards (which operates in 140 countries and sets the awards' criteria worldwide), Gaisce was established on March 28th 1985. From the outset the Defence Forces, and particularly 2 Fd Arty Regt, has been a huge supporter of the awards scheme, and provides practical help by putting participants through their paces as only the military knows how. The newly established 2 Arty Regt, based in Athlone, is carrying on that tradition. Gaisce is not a competition in that the only person you compete with is yourself. The aim of the awards scheme is to contribute to the development of young people through the achievement of personal challenges. These challenges consist of completing tasks in the areas of community development (helping with a charity work or Tidy Towns, for example); personal skill (mastering a new skill such as a musical instrument or a language); and physical recreation (taking up a sport such as GAA or tennis or doing a marathon). These are followed by organising and participating in an adventure task as part of a group (this is an endurance challenge carried out on foot, by bicycle, canoe, or on horseback). The length of time spent on the adventure task depends on the category of the award. For example, someone in the bronze award category would complete a walk of 25–35kms or a 100–130kms cycle over Report by Wesley Bourke Photos by Armn Neville Coughlan two consecutive days, whereas for the gold award the walk is 80–110kms and the cycle 300 –350kms over four consecutive days. During the first week in June 2 Arty Regt organised the adventure challenge for 27 Gaisce participants for a week. Some arrived with kit bags bigger than themselves and all had a similar nervous look, as they had no idea what the army had in store for them. "We are delighted in this unit to be involved in Gaisce," said Lt Col Ray York (OC 2 Arty Regt) in his welcoming address. Our Supreme Commander, An t-Uachtarán, is patron of Gaisce and we are delighted to be involved in this prestigious event." Breaking the ice with the nervous young adults and getting a laugh out of them Lt Col York told them he wanted the best out of them over the week: "drive, determination, and commitment!" He added that they would be "challenged both physically and mentally" but that they should enjoy it. As well as the planned 35kms walk the artillery instructors also had a few surprise challenges for the participants, including kayaking, a nightnavigation exercise, pontoon building with the engineers, rock-climbing, a talk by local historian Paddy Heaney, and even a SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) exercise run by the Air Corps. "You won't get this on a Play-Station," said Lt Steven Cooper. When we met up with the participants in the Slieve Bloom Mountains they look flushed and tired after finishing a leg of their mountain walk. "This week with the army has been very tough," said a happy Darragh Walsh (aged 17) from Tralee. "Sleeping out in the Slieve Blooms in a tent you have to make yourself, walking across the mountains with all your gear, and having to deal with all the bugs crawling all over you, is something I've never done before!" "It's of great benefit for the unit, too," said Lt Cooper. "While the difference between working with soldiers and working with young civilians is immense, training like this provides a great opportunity for us to encourage younger potential leaders in our unit." www.military.ie the defence forces magazine

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