An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir May / June 2025 www.military.ie/magazine 24 | CAN YOU GIVE US A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR? I joined the Naval Service in April 2018 and moved into the Signals Branch. Post training, I joined the L.É. Samuel Beckett as a CommOp. I applied for the Air Corps Cadetship in early 2019 and joined the 96th Cadet Class in October 2019. I was commissioned in March 2021 into the Air Corps College and have remained there since. I have spent my time in between training troops and administration. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ROLE IN THE AIR CORPS AND WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE? I currently hold the appointment of Air Corps College Admin Officer. I have held this appointment since July 2024. I work as the link between Unit HQ and the 3 Schools we have in the Unit, whilst ensuring standards and taskings to the Unit are achieved. We hear it all the time, but every day really is different. I don't know what or who will come through the door. I work with the Orderly Room to process and administer payroll, leave, personnel taskings, plus a plethora of other jobs. I also assist with any courses conducted in the Unit. This involves PT, lectures, or testing boards. It is a very busy but rewarding Unit to be in. WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO JOIN THE DF AND WHY SPECIFICALLY THE AIR CORPS? I had worked in retail since leaving school and wanted a change. The Naval Service seemed so different to my then job and thought it would be exciting. I really enjoyed being at sea and being involved in a busy & productive crew. We worked with the Air Corps on a number of training and operational exercises, and I became more interested in what they do. I wanted to remain in the Defence Forces but also explore what else there is on offer. I applied for the Cadetship in 2019 and was thankfully accepted into a small class of 10. WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR? The most memorable moment of my career was the role of Platoon Commander for the 05 Air Corps PNCOs Course. It was a challenging course to run but very rewarding. Now, I work closely with a lot of the students from that course, and get to see them instructing on their own courses. It is a real privilege to leave a positive impact on someone's career and see their progression. I spent 18 months in the Cadet School training the 98th Cadet Class from 2021 – 2023. Both occasions were challenging, and sometimes thankless, but training environments are great opportunities to learn and develop. WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN YOUR ROLE AND HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THEM? The Air Corps College is an extremely busy Unit in the Air Corps. We have 3 Schools under our remit – Military Training School, Technical Training School, and the Flying Training School. Each school has their own challenges and needs, and ensuring everyone is properly administered is difficult. It is a challenge to spread the workload between the Schools and ensure they each have the resources required to effectively conduct their training courses, which is extremely important to the students and future of the Defence Forces. IS THE ROLE OF THE AIR CORPS EVOLVING OVER TIME? There are very exciting times coming down the line for the Air Corps. We have a lot of new facilities, aircraft, and appointments coming online in the near future, which is very promising. The progression to an Air Force will increase the opportunities available to us and allow us to be more self-sufficient and grow our own culture. This development will allow us to build on our current capabilities whilst exploring some newer ones, more in line with similarly sized EU Air Forces. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START RUNNING ULTRAS AND WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED? When I was commissioned to Baldonnel in 2021 there were no PEOPLE OF THE DF NAME: RANK: YEAR JOINED: CURRENT UNIT: UNITS SERVED: ENDA CLOAKE LIEUTENANT 2018 AIR CORPS COLLEGE L.É SAMUEL BECKETT, FLYING TRAINING SCHOOL, AC COLLEGE HQ

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