An Cosantóir

18 | Irish troops arriving in the Golan Heights A New Mission by Capt James O'Hara (PIO, UNDOF) O Commences n Saturday, September 28th, 43 Inf Gp deployed to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights. The main body flew to Beirut before setting off by convoy, arriving at the Syrian border crossing near the Lebanese town of Masnaa at 0730hrs. The Syrian border authorities conducted a thorough, seven-hour examination of all individual personal baggage, ordnance, equipment and electronic items without incident. The convoy was finally given permission to proceed at 1530hrs. The convoy's road to Damascus took one-and-a-half hours, only slightly faster than St Paul. Arriving into the UN compound in the city the convoy only paused long enough to hear the dull rumble of artillery fire in the distance before mounting the Irish Mowag Piranha APCs for the final phase of the journey to the Golan Heights. During this two-and-a-half hour journey the Irish troops caught their first glimpse of the Syrian civil war as the convoy passed through innumerable checkpoints manned by militia, regular soldiers and armoured vehicles before arriving at the new Irish HQ in Camp Faouar at approximately 2000hrs local time. The Irish troops quickly became acquainted with the members of the other UNDOF contingents from Fiji, Nepal, the Philippines and India. Under the guidance of outgoing Force Reserve Company Commander Captain Sam Taguba of the Philippine Battalion, key Irish personnel were brought on familiarisation patrols of the Area of Separation (AOS). Firstly they visited the Fijian Battalion in the northern sector. The Fijian Battalion includes a Nepalese Infantry Company, which occupies the most northerly part of the AOS. Given their native climate and terrain, the Nepalese are well suited to this sector, which includes an outpost at the summit of Mount Hermon at an altitude of 2,800m An Cosantóir November 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie above sea level. In the winter months this post is completely snowed in and the troops are often required to ski to the position. Incidentally, this is the highest manned UN post in the world. The next area of responsibility (AOR) they visited, manned by a Fijian Company, includes the Druze village of Hadar, which has formed its own militia loyal to the Assad regime, and a post on the frontier facing Majdal Shams on the Israeli side of the AOS. At this outpost there is a concrete platform where families and relatives that were separated on either side of the boundary following the 1973 conflict can shout across to each other. The following day, the familiarisation patrol visited the AOR of the other Fijian Company, which covers the central sector of the AOS. The Fijian Company Commander gave a briefing and ground orientation at UN Post 27, which overlooks the ruins of Al Qunaytirah. This town, destroyed in the 1973 conflict, lends its name to the south-western province of Syria, which encompasses the Golan region. It is also the last town on the 'Bravo' side of the AOS before reaching the border gate with the 'Alpha' side, better known as the Israeli Occupied Golan. The patrol subsequently made its way along the 'Alpha' line towards UN Post 37 near the rebel controlled town of Jabbata, passing through a Free Syrian Army checkpoint along the route. The remaining UN positions in this AOR were in the town of Khan Arnabah, which is on MSR 7 from Damascus and is the commercial and economic centre of the area with schools, market stalls, a medical centre, a fire station, mosques and banks. Its strategic importance was evident by the widespread presence of Syrian Army checkpoints in the town. The final day of familiarisation patrolling consisted of a visit to the Philippine Battalion's AOR, which covers the

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