An Cosantóir January / February 2026 www.military.ie/magazine
T
he School of Military Engineering recently ran an
Advanced Search Working in Confined Spaces (WICS)
course which took place in Collins Barracks, Co. Cork in
September 2025. 15 Students participated, including seven (07)
members of the Corps of Engineers and eight (08) international
students from Cyprus, Spain, and Italy. The training was
organised under the European Defence Agency (EDA) Military
Search Capability Building Project (Cat B), which continues
to foster collaboration and interoperability among European
partners. For context, a "Confined Space" refers to any place,
including any substantially enclosed space (e.g. vessel, bund,
tunnel, container, cellar) that are deemed high risk due to
the hazards posed by the presence of explosive atmospheres,
harmful gases/ vapours, excess (or absence) of
oxygen or excessively high temperatures. In a military
context, these spaces tend to be dark, narrow, complex
labyrinths – extremely hazardous environments to an
Advanced Search Team that also tend to be ideal hiding
places for any potential adversary.
The recent course follows a long-standing partnership
between the Defence Forces and our European counterparts,
with recent joint EDA training activities held as recently as
July 2024 during a large Military Search Exercise in Cyprus,
part of which featured Confined or limited access exercise
areas that required specialist and advanced Engineer assets.
Rotation of Search Pairs and conduct of systematic decontamination
16 |
BUILDING BUILDING
CAPABILITY CAPABILITY
THROUGH THROUGH
COOPERATION COOPERATION
WORKING
IN
CONFINED
SPACES
COURSE
WORKING
IN
CONFINED
SPACES
COURSE
Students practice Breathing Apparatus
Pre-Entry Tests in Collins Barracks
Search Pair conduct advanced search
of the Forecastle of MV Matthew
ARTICLE BY CAPT
DÓNAL CLARE
