An Cosantóir

22 they know how to get there. They are on their own effectively in how they conduct the tasking. The tactical block training lasts for four weeks and the culmination is a 96-hour tactical exercise which brings together everything the students have been taught. Initially, it is lecture based building to a walk through/talk through into a close target reconnaissance exercise and observation post exercise. "All of this comes together on the final week where students are dropped off, given an objective and tasked with completing these close target reconnaissance and observation post screens which lead to the very end when the course conducts what's called a raid. Adopting the principle of Find, Fix and then Strike. It's all about getting information. The students have to get to certain control points and mark them on a control card. If they don't, it simulates them not getting information." The close target reconnaissance involves getting as close as possible to a target without being effectively compromised. "It is seizing the opportunity to get in as close as you can without compromising your detachment. A simple explanation would be that a team is dropped off by means of mobility, they are self-sufficient, they will patrol through a series of rendezvouses to a final rendezvous. The team will split in half, one half will secure that final rendezvous and the second half will go in and conduct the close target reconnaissance." Larry went on: "Effectively what they are doing is they are getting in on the objective, getting eyes on the objective, spending a considerable amount of time on the objective, going full 360 and they are planning so they want to get information on a hostile: the strength, are they carrying weapons, have they vehicles, have they mounted defensive positions?" What they are also thinking about is should they be tasked with conducting a raid in this location; where they can put the first support group, where to put the manoeuvre element of the team, so they can fire manoeuvre safely on the location. Once the team has done this, they have to fill out a patrol report, do a sketch of the area. They also have to fill out what is called a SLMAG - Strength, Location, Attitude, Method, Moral of the personal they are conducting the operation on and Ground. They are gathering all this information and reporting back. The information will go further up into Squadron HQ or Battalion. "It's like saying in simple terms: I want you to go there, there are people hanging around there, get eyes on, tell me what they are doing, tell me what they are wearing, tell me what equipment they are carrying, tell me if we want to launch a raid, where can I put my FSG. And not be seen – that is the most important thing because if you are seen you are compromised you are not just compromising the other half of the team, you are compromising everyone else that's part of the bigger picture as well. "You have to abandon everything you are doing and get out of there. You might only have a certain amount of information, but you want to get all the information to backbrief the Troop Commander or the Squad Commander. It also means that if you are seen, they will probably relocate from there so you are going back to scratch." Usually, he said, they would operate in a four-man or a six- man detachment. The basic four-man detachment includes a lead scout, detachment commander and radio operator and what is called a tailender who carries the GPMG and that's your fire support, so it's less than half the size of the standard section as taught in induction training. "These people are carrying everything they need and they are self-sufficient in relation to weapons, ammunition, signals equipment, night vision equipment, thermal imagery. So they are carrying a considerable weight as well." Regarding observation Posts, these can be tasked with a mounted or dismounted observation post screen. "You are sent forward mounted or dismounted; mounted you are in the vehicles themselves and they have sophisticated sighting systems. For dismounted, personnel are dropped off at a point, they patrol through a series of RVs to their location. They are getting eyes on a what's known as an NAI (Named Area of Interest) or a TI (Target Area of Interest)." Larry added: "You are completely self-sufficient for maybe a period of 72 or 96 hours. In layman's terms what you are doing is digging a hole in the ground to get in and not be seen, to get eyes on a location, you are sitting in that hole in the ground and looking through an aperture by day with binoculars and by at night through your night vision equipment and thermal imaging equipment." Medium Recce Vehicle - MRV. Scorpion Shoot Glen of Imaal. DF PODCAST

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