An Cosantóir

| 19 Air Corps CASA personnel on their return from Valletta. From (L/R:) Capt Barry Sills, Capt Gerard Fitzpatrick, Cpl Anthony Conlon, GOC AC Brig Gen Paul Fry, Cpl Jimmy McCormack, Col Harvey O'Keeffe (now retd), Capt Peter Griffith, Comdt James Quinn and Capt Conleth Walsh. Not pictured, Cpl Tom Shanahan. Families reuniting on the ramp at Casement Aerodrome as 'Irish 251' returns from Valletta. tries on the ground in Malta at this stage including C130 aircraft from Italy, The Netherlands and Sweden, and a C17 from Canada. The Air Corps aircraft continued on standby but were not called on. On February 26th the Learjet departed Malta for Casement Aerodrome with seven Irish evacuees on board who had been evacuated to Malta from Benghazi by the Royal Navy's HMS Cumberland early that morning. On February 27th the Gulfstream GIV transported three multinational diplomatic teams, consisting of Irish, British and Maltese diplomats, from Malta to Tripoli with a view to assisting any EU citizens who presented themselves at the airport. This was necessary as most of the embassies were not now functioning in Tripoli as their staff had been extracted. The Gulfstream GIV was used as a command, control and communications centre for the teams operating on the ground in Tripoli airport, who were assisting in extracting evacuees onto an Italian C130. They continued on the ground in Tripoli for the remainder of the day, eventually returning to Malta that night with one British national who had subsequently presented himself for evacuation. On February 28th the aircraft remained on standby and as the day developed it was decided that the Gulfstream GIV would return to Ireland later in the day with a further seven Irish evacuees. The mission was formally stood-down by Ambassador Hennessey after the departure of the Gulfstream GIV. The CASA aircraft and all remaining military personnel departed Malta on March 1st. During the period of the operation Defence Forces personnel operated effectively at the Irish HQ in the Irish Embassy and in the multinational Non-Executive Operations Co-ordination Centre (NEOCC) and the Air Corps successfully carried out all tasks assigned to it by the DFA. This included three flights into Tripoli airport, one of which was the air ambulance flight. The two other flights were for the transportation of DFA officials and multinational diplomatic teams to Tripoli airport to co-ordinate evacuation efforts on the ground. The Air Corps also repatriated 14 Irish citizens from Malta to Ireland on two flights in the final days of the operation. The operation represented a new departure for the Air Corps in the aid-to-the-civil-power (ATCP) role, but a challenge that they met successfully. * The author would like to acknowledge the assistance of Comdt Jimmy Quinn (AC) in the preparation of this article. This article was previously published in the newsletter of the Association of Retired Commissioned Officers (ARCO), Issue No: 23, Autumn 2012. www.iarco.info An emotional reunion in the VIP terminal, the reunited families along with the crew of 'Irish 251' from left, Sgt Leona Walsh, Capt Matthew Quinlan (now retd), Flt Sgt Peter Plunkett and Capt Arthur Hunter Nolan. www.military.ie the defence forces magazine

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