An Cosantóir

| 15 www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE maintain personal safety and improve the situational awareness to commanders. The pre deployment training focussed on improving operator skills for the two systems (Riddlr ROV & DJI Matrice UAS) and developing capability knowledge for the remainder of the team, allowing them to employ the assets efficiently and work within the constraints of their capabilities. Upon completion of the training phase the team began preparations for travel to Cyprus, Equipment and logs staff were transported to Cyprus via Malta thanks to AC 101 Squadron and NSRC. The remaining 12 personnel were transported with thanks to J4 and Lufthansa. WORKING AS PART OF THE MMSC The MMSC and all its assets were based in the National Guard Training Camp (KEN) which is located 12km East of Pafos. The exercise locations were clustered around the south west portion of the island of Cyprus. The variety of locations allowed for some very interesting and challenging scenarios which had to be carefully tackled by all teams. Throughout the exercise the Irish AST, callsign C1, worked with a variety of international personnel and gained valuable knowledge on the effective use of new assets such as Military Working Dogs (MWD) or attached EOD. The first task C1 received was a route search into an abandoned village at Sioskou. The challenges of this task included numerous vulnerable points, collapsed culverts and thick scrub to be traversed on isolation sweeps. The team worked well on this task and put their organic and attached assets to good use, discovering a Command Wire IED concealed in a culvert. This first experience working with a MWD was insightful for the team. Following completion of the route search C1 were tasked to Lithrodontas on 23 JUN 24 to complete an incident search of a vehicle suspected to be booby trapped. Swedish EOD were attached to C1 to assist, with the availability of two ROVs, remote means were the most efficient method of gaining access to the car. Cpl Johnny Carroll showed the best aptitude for piloting the RIDDLER in training, so he was tasked to work with the Swedish ROV operator who was equipped with a PackBot. This was an excellent opportunity to contrast the capabilities of the two robots. The PackBot has superior manoeuvrability but the RIDDLER provided excellent visibility and torque, provided by the array of cameras and greater weight respectively. 24 JUN 24 saw a pause in operations for C1 to attend a multinational "Non-Tac" day exercising rope work and rescue systems at a rockface at Hasampoilia, this training was co-ordinated by a Swedish Rope Master affectionately known as Steve-O. As the exercise scenario unfolded and evidence of concerning enemy capability and intent was uncovered, a major operation to search the suspected HQ of Trust was planned, this operation saw a Belgian AST, Cypriat EOD and Intermediate Search Team (IST), Irish AST and two MWDs under the command of an Irish Search Advisor to conduct a search of a large Ex military compound on the outskirts of Lithrodontas. This site was known to house a HQ and primary training area of the terrorist group Trust, the location was confirmed to be booby trapped so a high threat search was required. The Irish AST now under the command of Sgt Chris Hurley was tasked to search a cluster of buildings on the outskirts of the camp, suspected of housing the HQ. While conducting an isolation sweep of the building they suspected of housing the HQ Pte Sean O'Connell and Cpl Niall Conlon discovered a well concealed tripwire linked to a bounding fragmentation mine. The find was reported, marked and handed over to Cypriot EOD who conducted a deliberate initiation of the mine. This find confirmed the building to be of significance to the enemy so the search recommenced immediately. To gain access to the building it was decided to use a hook & line set to open a door from a safe distance. The main door the building was not booby trapped, following an appropriate "soak time" two members of the team cautiously entered and it became apparent that Ex Con had been very busy preparing Pte Sean O'Connell (front) and Cpl Johnny Carroll survey the entrance to the building for signs of booby traps and a safe access point Pte Sean O'Connell cutting his way into the TRUST HQ Team photo w Ambassador and D Eng

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