An Cosantóir

ONE STANDARD ONE STANDARD same platform to give their opinion. It was very beneficial. After weapons cleaning, a kit inspection took place. This was purely to standardise the layout, but also to minimise any snags when we were in the Glen. If there was a surprise kit inspection on the day, we would have had no issues. As the week went on, we grew more confident. We then had officers and Sgt's come down to mock assess us. This was done for two reasons. For feedback and to become comfortable in a testing environment. Week 4 was range week. We are very lucky in 28th Bn where we have such facilities in-house. Sgt Harley and Sgt Neeson helped us massively, running the range for us, so Sgt Conlon and I could solely focus on the performance of the platoon. The Pl Sgt and I studied the shoot programme, as it wasn't a traditional competition shoot, such as the Brigade or All Army's. Some details were purposely vague, so it was open to interpretation. Therefore, through a little bit of trial and error, we created our game plans where we were accurate, comfortable, and within the shoot parameters. On Monday 31st we travelled to the Glen. Tuesday was the Platoon Attack Day, with two platoon attacks for each unit. Our first attack was in Colliga Bog. We were given our aerial photograph. Battle prep commenced. Section IC's and 2IC's kicked straight into it, giving arcs, placing the GPMG's and helping with camo. My own nerves started to kick in if I'm honest. With all the training we had done, it came down to just 2 attacks. We finished the attack. We thought it was very good. Still room for improvement, however. We got back to Coolmoney Camp for lunch and a reorg before the next attack. During this, we sat down as a group and broke down what we did well in the attack, and what we could improve on. OC 28th Bn and OC A Coy then came over to give a few words of encouragement. It definitely worked. We went out for the second attack. Colliga Bog again. A tricky area, due to the fact that it doesn't necessarily have linear ditch lines, perpendicular to each other. However, it didn't affect us. All personnel did what was required of them, and more. It was possibly the best performance we had put in since training began. Comms were efficient, command and control was great, and the rate of fire was aggressive. This gave us the momentum to go through the attack with plenty of time to spare, without sacrifice to anything else. Wednesday was the shoot day in Cemetery Hill. Several stands were present, displaying the new IMBAS, comms systems and the DMR. It was then our time to fire. All weapons were checked by the Ordnance Staff. We then made our way down to the firing points. LFTT staff and coordinators clearly explained each shoot to the teams. As long as we all performed how we did on the range in Finner, we were in with a fighting chance. Once every unit had finished, all teams were called into a hallow square. It was results time. "And the winner of the Platoon Attack Competition 2026 is… Team number 4, 28th Infantry Battalion." That pause might have been for only a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. What a feeling it was when we were called out! A month of training, long days, sore bodies, sacrifices, was all worth it. The unit has now won it two years on the bounce. Hopefully, we make it three next year! I would like to thank Sgt Dan Harley, Sgt Gary Lafferty and Sgt Matthew Neeson for assisting us throughout the training, giving us advice and helping out on the range. Also, to the Logs Staff in the unit, they were so helpful. And lastly to the platoon themselves, with a special mention to Sgt Philip Conlon. They're a credit to themselves, a credit to the unit and a credit to the Defence Forces. The professionalism and dedication were immense; morale was always at a high and were an absolute pleasure to work with. | 7 www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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