An Cosantóir July / August 2026 www.military.ie/magazine
Ex LONG REACH – Lt Oisín Ward O'Brien, 2
BDE ORD GP
O
ur first major hurdle in Phase 3 of training
was Exercise Long Reach, a 22km section
level navigation exercise. Starting at 1700
hrs, carrying full admin and section level weapons,
we began our march near Lough Tay. After first
summiting Djouce we cut around the west side
of War Hill and headed north towards Kippure.
Here, the ground was boggy and uneven, requiring
us to drop our pace and push on as nightfall
approached. It was well and truly dark when we
reached the safety point at the base of Kippure,
and after a hasty resupply we continued on
upwards.
Upon hitting the top of Kippure, we were greeted with
a pitch black, featureless landscape where our pace
dropped even further as we attempted to traverse
the seemingly endless expanse to Seefingan. By the
time we reached that spot height, it was just past 0000
hrs and exhaustion had set in with a vengeance. After
the briefest of breaks, we headed toward Seefin, with
the end in sight at Seefin's peak. We half stumbled;
half fell down the hill's northern face and finally were
met with the comforting glow of infamous transit van
and ROPS headlights. Completing the final leg of this
route march, we were very content to arrive back on
the hard stand about 9 hours after the time we had
started.
Ex OOTW – Lt Luke Thompson, 7 INF BN
Our OOTW exercise comprised of two 96-hr ground
exercises, the first of which was at the FOB in Kilworth,
Co. Cork and the second of which was at Kilbrannish
forest on the side of Mount Leinster in Carlow. We
were all very nervous as we boarded the ROPS to
Kilworth before the first insertion into the FOB on
the Monday morning. We had little time to dwell on
our nerves as we were greeted in Kilworth by both
an active enemy and incessant rain. It was a great
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FORGED THROUGH FORGED THROUGH
CHALLENGE CHALLENGE
ARTICLE BY VARIOUS CONTRIBUTORS
The 101st
Cadet Class
