An Cosantóir September / October 2025 www.military.ie/magazine
I
n early September, eight members of the Ordnance
Corps travelled to Keflavík Air Base, Iceland to
participate in the largest annual Explosive Ordnance
Disposal (EOD) exercise conducted by NATO Allies and
Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries. Exercise Northern
Challenge (Ex NC), which has run for the previous 30 years,
is an annual multinational EOD exercise hosted by the
Icelandic Coast Guard aimed at preparing NATO Allies
and PfP participants for international deployments and
defence against terrorism. Ex NC aimed to train response
to real-life terrorist incidents involving IEDs and other
EOD-related scenarios, similar to those that have occurred
in recent NATO missions and to be expected in the future.
This year's iteration featured over 350 participants from
18 nations, including the USA (USMC, US Army, US Air Force
& US Navy), Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, France,
Germany, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the United
Kingdom.
This year, and for the first time in the history of the exercise, the
Irish Defence Forces deployed an EOD team to participate. The
Director of Ordnance selected 1 Brigade Ordnance Group, Collins
Barracks, Cork to undertake the exercise. This tasking presented
an opportunity for the 1 Brigade Ordnance Group EOD panel to
ARTICLE PROVIDED BY ORDNANCE CORPS
6 |
BENCHMARKING
EXCELLENCE: EXCELLENCE:
Ordnance Corps Achievements
in Exercise Northern Challenge
"We don't rise to the levels of our expectations.
We fall to the level of our training"
— Archilochus
