An Cosantóir

14 8TH INFANTRY PLATOON SERGEANTS COURSE and equipment. This year it was decided to implement Coy level attacks to see if the testing process could still be used effectively, and it was! Personnel in appoint- ment were tested under appropriate conditions as Platoon Sgt or Platoon Commander, and everyone involved from riflemen to section commanders and higher, got to see the mechanics of Company level actions play out in front of them as multiple enemy positions were suppressed by one platoon, while assaulted by another and the reserve pla- toons ably dealt with friendly casualties and the Coy CSS chain was put to good effect. Captured Persons or CPERS were processed and sent back to the CS as were casualties to waiting Gator All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). This aspect of utilising all available assets, such as Gator ATVs with dis- mounted Infantry soldiers, highlighted the need for us, as an organisation, to continuously evolve and improve our basic TTPs to efficiently administer frontline troops. Week 7 FTX Fight Back Throughout the course and its exercises, we had been dealing with the Hibernian Liberation Front (HLF), a fictional Opposition Force (OPFOR) created by NCOTW staff to provide an enemy for its courses. This was the common thread and we were successful in removing their presence and subsequent threat from Fort Davis, the Galtee Mountains and the Glen of Imaal, but we weren't to have it all our own way, hence the title "Fight Back". This FTX was a planned, deliberate company sized staged withdrawal operation, from fortified defen- sive positions on Carrickashane Mountain in Agha- vanna, Co.Wicklow, as HLF sections, accompanied by APCs, moved to retake the mountain. Again, we were given exercise troops and the various Platoon Commanders and Sgts detailed in their orders and rehearsals, how their positions would be strengthened with log obstacles, barbed wire, trip flares and anything else which would slow down the enemy advance and allow each platoon time to execute an orderly withdrawal to predesignated APC pick up points. A forward OP, positioned on high ground, gave the platoons early warning of the approaching HLF and the platoons stood to. A fierce defence and withdrawal was conducted and this retrograde operation went ac- cording to plan and the HLF now occupied Carrick- ashane Mountain. Maybe the next Infantry Platoon Sergeant's Course will encounter the HLF and use any number of effects-based verbs to effectively neutralise them. My experience from the course (Cpl Alan Ferguson): After I completed my All-Arms Standard Course (AASC) in early 2021, I had to wait for another ten months to undergo the Infantry Platoon Sgts Course. It was always in the back of your mind that it had to be done, there were some students, who for one reason or another, had to wait years, all the while, knowing that one of the hardest courses in the Defence Forces was hanging over their heads. However, once it begins, you quickly get stuck in. As mentioned, we got on very well as a class and that made the challenging nature of this course easier to deal with. Everyone helped each other in whatever way they could, everyone worked hard for each other when in appointment, nobody want- ed to jeopardise their fellow student's test. We checked things among each other, ran ideas and problems past each other and sought out each other's advice and expertise when needed or if you were unsure and needed a helping hand. I found this to be the most rewarding aspect of the course, that we have good people in our ranks who will make excellent Infantry Platoon Sgts, and that can only be good for the Defence Forces. Cpl Alan Ferguson student on the 8th Inf Pln Sgts cse Student's creating a model of the terrain in preparation of Orders

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