An Cosantóir

10 Irish troops have been back in Syria for a number of years, and its largely due to the work of Col Michael (Mick) Dawson, the recently retired Commandant of the Military College. He deployed overseas in 2018, having been appointed Chief of Staff of UNDOF. To get the job he had to compete in an interview process with six senior officers from different countries with his interview being conducted by the Force Commander in Syria and three senior UN officials in New York. "It was a great honour to be picked from that competitive field", he recalls, "I deployed there in January 2018 and remained in the appointment until February 2019. There were no Irish troops in Syria at that time as the Irish unit had redeployed west of the A Line during the height of the internal conflict. The UN camp was subsequently ransacked." Col Dawson added: "In addition to the roles and responsibilities associated with my new UN appointment, I was tasked by the Minister and the General Staff to ascertain during the early phase of my mission, if force protection and infrastructural conditions were right for an Irish Unit to come back to Syria and Camp Faouar." He saw this as a great honour for himself and was proud to send a report back to the Minister and to the General Staff that "in my opinion conditions were right for the Irish to return. In late August 2018 an Irish unit under the command of Lt Col Mark Brownen, comprising troops predominantly from the 3rd Infantry Battalion, returned to Syria. It was mission accomplished. The Irish returned and they are continuing to serve there still. A lot of senior people thought we would never go back (particularly in the host nations of Syria and Israel). It was a mighty thing to happen coming near the end of my career. I was never as proud." But it was just one of many highlights in a distinguished career for Col Dawson that stretched back over 41 years. He retired in May of this year. "There would usually be some kind of presentation, some sort of event, but because of COVID myself and many others have just slipped away in the last 15/16 months", he said but stressed that he understood the public health situation: "COVID put a stop to all that, and rightly so. It would have been nice to have had something when I retired but it was the right thing to do." His story is that of so many military folk. "My father, brother and uncle were all in the Army. I grew up right beside the Post Office in the Curragh Camp. I was born, bred and lived in the Curragh Camp until I was 15 years of age. I am very much of the military; you could say it is in my DNA." As a result, the Curragh has a special place in Col Dawson's heart: "I loved it there and I am delighted to say that since my retirement, I have now found myself back in the Curragh Camp. I am a Director on the Board of the Curragh Family Resource Centre. I see it as an opportunity to give something back to the people and the camp that shaped me." "The Curragh Camp", he said, "was a unique mini town where everyone knew and looked out for everyone else. I have always felt very much part of the Curragh community." When he finished school in 1980, it was a bleak jobs landscape in Ireland at the time. "It was a tough time for everyone. People were going abroad, my own sister went to Australia after she graduated from college, and we didn't see her again for 20 years." So, securing entry into the 57th Cadet Class was a lifesaver. "Jobs were hard to come by so I considered myself lucky at the time to have been offered a Cadetship. I was 18 and I never looked back." It was an 18-month course and for the second half of the training program, he was made Cadet Captain. "It was a huge tap on the shoulder, a vote of confidence if you like and it told me I must be doing something right. It is like the Manager of the team and the players want you to be Captain. You are a sort of role model as Cadet Captain and you also had to look out for the junior class coming behind you." But then leadership was something in Col Dawson's blood. He had already been Captain of several school teams. "I suppose that gave me a little bit of experience in leadership. So, when I was made Cadet Captain, it was something I thoroughly embraced. In the military, when somebody offers you responsibility, you take it." But the real work was only beginning. He was commissioned in 1982 and was posted to the 27th Infantry Battalion in Dundalk. Col Dawson spent eight years in the unit but was also very fortunate during the 1980s to study Physical Education at Thomond College in Limerick explaining: "If I hadn't joined the Army I would have liked to have been a PT teacher in a secondary school and here was a chance to COL MICK DAWSON (RETD) COL MICK DAWSON (RETD) By Tony O'Brien Photos by Col Mick Dawson (Retd) and An Cosantóir On UN checkpoint 6.38A with Pte Spud Murphy, B Coy, 71 Irishbatt, UNIFIL in 1992 As Chief of Staff UNDOF, welcoming Lt Col Mark Brownen and his unit back to Camp Faouar, Syria in August 2018

• Cover