An Cosantóir

| 11 The three (3) international teams arrived four (4) days before the UK teams as this allowed the international teams to get familiar with British Army weapon systems and drills. This was a three (3) day training package similar to the stands we would exercise on. This enhanced our training and confidence in the use of the British army weapons system for the main. Phase 1 of the exercise began on Friday at 1700hrs when teams occupied patrol harbours in a nearby staging and reception area. The teams would remain in the harbour area for the next 24hrs receiving a set of orders on Saturday morning at 0800hrs followed by being supplied with ammunition and comms equipment and finally a kit inspection to ensure all teams were compliant in having the required kit.. Phase 2 started on the Saturday at 1700hrs and would continue straight for 12hrs all movement had to be conducted with the tactical situation in mind and tight timelines had to be strictly adhered to. Each team navigated a route of approx. 21km on foot completing tasks at 8 stands throughout the 12hr period. Each stand consisted of a military task with multiple elements and lasted 45 minutes to an hour. 100 marks were awarded per stand. At each stand the team i/c was briefed and orders then delivered to the team, the i/c of each team was constantly observed for their leadership skills. The eight (8) stands as mentioned above were all scenario based and very realistic. 1. Survivability was the first stand the team encountered. During this stand the team were met with a scenario of a medic who had been injured and required assistance to retrieve medical supplies and camouflage a vehicle which had been damaged. The team split in to two groups the group retrieving the medical supplies had to move into a wooded area where enemy forces had been spotted observing friendly forces movement and had set up trip flares, the ROE stated that enemy forces should not be fired upon unless they pose a direct threat. The team successfully moved through the area and retrieved the supplies without setting off the trip flare due to the exceptional situational awareness demonstrated by Cpl Shane McEvoy. 2. Medicate and evacuate consisted of treating two casualties while also maintaining security and finally moving to a pre designated for CASEVAC site. During the withdrawal the team received enemy contact and were required to move a casualty by stretcher over 800m while a manoeuvre team returned fire. 3. The advance to contact scenario was presented as a VCP which had been hit up by and enemy force. The team were required to move across open ground and located and destroy the enemy. Once contact had been initiated and the firefight won the team managed to take the enemy position within ten (10) mins through showing speed and aggression all of which came down to the focused training and work ethic of every team member. 4. The C-UAS (anti-UAV) consisted of following a route down a valley and up the far side while crossing a river. Every time a drone was spotted or heard the REDEYE drill had to be followed with a soak time of 5 minutes before continuing. 5. CBRN consisted of the team getting into dress cat three (3) and moving into an area which was deemed at moderate risk for CBRN threat through UXO or industrial risks. As the team advanced an explosion was heard followed by smoke. The team donned dress cat 4R and continued to move forward through the area. On the opposite side the team were brought into a clean area and had to proceed with correctly doffing there CBRN suits and going through the decontamination drills as per TTPs. 6. Dig or die was based around building a hasty defensive position while also maintaining security and staying in cover from In Direct Fire which kept "hitting" irregularly. 7. The MIMMS encountered was initially briefed to team i/c's as being a Medical Logs stand which quickly turned into a major incident when a friendly forces vehicle patrol was hit by a UAV. The team cautiously moved to the incident and placed security before moving to the casualties. All walking wounded were moved to a pre designated Casualty Collection point with the most serious casualty being moved by stretcher. The casualties played their part in creating confusion and mayhem for the teams put the DF team scored 95/100 the team had benefited from the number of experienced paramedics & advanced paramedics as part of this year's team. This stand was setup and run by the support team from the Irish defence forces along with members of the Royal Army Medical Services to ensure fairness in marking. 8. Ambush was the final stand the team would face and arguably one of the toughest due to the physical nature of the stand and the fact that the team had covered some 20km on foot. The brief given was that an NGO sought our help in patrolling down a track to retrieve supplies, the enemy had been spotted on several occasions observing and harassing the NGOs. This stand assessed contact drills and saw the team having to fire and manoeuvre out of the forest track over a distance of approx. 800m while providing protection for the NGO who was guiding them. After each stand the umpire would conduct a quick debrief and provide feedback it was obvious that the DF team was scoring high points after each event. At 0500hrs After a full 12 hours on the go the team moved back to the harbour area confident that they had performed to a high standard. A parade was held at 0800hrs to announce the winners as 3rd and 2nd place were announced, all eyes were now focusing on the DF team as the winners of the de Rouffignac Shield AMSTTE 2025 was called out. An incredibly proud moment for the team & DF to win this prestigious British Army's International Medical Exercise for the second consecutive year. They had competed against the best and won which proves the quality of both our training and people. Arduous serpent is a superbly organised and well-run exercise, it is also a mentally and physical challenging experience from which our personnel have hugely benefitted. This event has also allowed us to demonstrate to our British and International colleagues the high standards of training and professionalism of the Defence Forces and allowed excellent relationships to be developed between the Royal Army Medical Corps and the DF Medical Corps. I would like to finish with finally a special word of thanks for CQ Darren Mc Carthy (CMU 2Bde), CQ Suzanne Connolly (CMU 2Bde), Cpl Stephen Burke (CMU HQ) without whom we would have achieved very little during our training and preparation. www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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