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Your Defence Forces Newsletter DF -vs- Garda Boat Race T he Defence Forces Rowing Association beat a Garda crew on the Liffey at Islandbridge this summer. The crew consisted of Lt S.MacEoin S 1 BTC, Lt A. Fennell 27 Bn RDF, Lt E. McGuire 2 FAR and Lt P. Williams 1 Tpt Coy. The DF -vs- Garda Boat Race is over 500m and has been run since the 1990's. If you are interested in participating in rowing in the DF, contact: Lt. Amy Colclough at 5875 / amy.colclough@defenceforces.ie L.É. Emer L.É. Emer is being decommissioned after 35 years service. She has played her role in protecting Ireland's interests at sea by carrying out a broad range of maritime defence, security and other roles. Her routine patrols were always multi-tasked and encompassed national and maritime security, ocean governance, safety and surveillance, port security, fishery protection, drug interdiction, pollution control and search and rescue. She was the first Naval Service ship to carry out UNIFIL resupply mission in 1979 to South Lebanon. In total she completed 14 UNIFIL resupply missions between 1979 and 2001. L.É. Emer intercepted and seized the arms ship Marita Ann and assisted in the Air India disaster and The Fastnet Race Disaster in 1979. The Naval Service will receive L.É. Samuel Beckett early next year. Defence Forces Tactical & Weapons Skills League T he Defence Forces Tactical and Weapons Skills League was conducted over a number of months on a variety of disciplines, including Reconnaissance, Sniping and Support Weapons such as the 81mm Mortar and the 84mm Anti-Tank Gun. It's an all encompassing skills and fitness test that covers all of the main operational disciplines. An allowance was made for units that did not have the anti-amour assets, which ensured a level playing field across all the participants. The final two elements of the competition were the DF Military Skills Competition and the Combined Weapons Cup which were conducted on 10 and 11 September in Kilworth, Co Cork. The prize, the newly commissioned Tactical and Weapons Skills League Cup, was presented to 2 Bde. In addition to the League Cup 2 Brigade had the honor of taking home the Combined Weapons Cup and The Marksman's Cup. DF IKON T he new DF document management and collaboration platform, DF IKON (Information and Knowledge Online) is currently being trialled in key locations across the DF (DFHQ, Army, NS and AC), after this trial period IKON will be redesigned based on input from trials and a working group in DFHQ. IKON will be rolled out DF-wide on a phased basis in 2014. The first unit to receive IKON will be the 27 Inf Bn, while instruction in the use of the new system is ongoing in the CIS School. PSS Helpline Launch T he DF have engaged a new company called CareCall to provide a confidential helpline to all PDF personnel, which includes couple counselling. The service is free, independent, confidential and you can call it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's staffed by professional, qualified personnel and face to face appointments are guaranteed within three days. Expect to see further posters and leaflets advertising the service around barrack locations. The CareCall number is 1800 409 673

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