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visit us at www.military.ie 2Bde PNCO Course I n the photograph are 2 Section, 1 Platoon of the 48 PNCO Course, 2 BTC, the day before their section at- tack testing. The students recently passed out on 14 February. Left to right: Sgmn Demody (2 Fd CIS), Pte Kirby (6 Bn), Gnr Mahon (2 Bde Arty), Pte McCaffery (27 Bn), Pte Bran- nigan (7 Bn) Pte Foley (28 Bn), Pte Lynch (27 Bn), Pte Gallagher (28 Bn), Pte Anderson (7 Bn). Photo by Cpl Karl Johnston (2 BTC). BOylE HAll T he picture shows the current staff of the Artillery School, DFTC, with COS Lt Gen Conor O'Boyle and GOC DFTC Brig Gen Seamus Ó'Giolláin at the opening of Boyle Hall on 7th February. The hall, used exclusively for the M-UAV program, is named after Lt Col Tom Boyle who was awarded a DSM for his actions in the Congo in December 1962 and January 1963. He also served as School Comdt, Artil- lery School and as OC McGee Bks, Kildare and was the father of the current COS. Flanking the group are two of three refurbished guns that were recently returned to the Artillery School from Hughes Fabrication, UK; a a 3.7inch Howitzer (left) and a French 75 (right). Completing the trio of restored guns is a French 75 with pneu- matic tyres and a limber, a configuration used in the Defence Forces. All three guns will be on display at the Curragh Museum as part of phase three of it's development. Maps Online T he newly established GIS Section has provided maps of all mission areas where we currently have personnel deployed. These were provided to assist in briefings on these missions but can be used by personnel prior to deployment for famil- iarisation of the mission areas. Further maps and updates will be added in the future. The current selection of maps can be found on the DCIS/J6 intranet homepage by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page. Multifit Challenge T he inaugural Multifit Challenge, which took place on the 18 Dec 13, saw eight person- nel from the DF achieve the Multifit Standard. Four of the eight are pictured receiv- ing their DF Branded Base-layers. Candidates varied from 19 to 41 years of age, with 1 Cn Cois the best represented unit overall with 15 personnel taking part on the day. The Multifit Standard achievers were: Comdt Jayne Lawlor (J1, DFHQ), Capt Padraig Mur- phy (HQ 2 Bde), Lt Trevor Gethins (1 Mech Coy, DFTC), Sgt Alan McEvoy (27 Bn, 2 Bde), Cpl Eddie O'Neill (1 Mech Coy, DFTC), S/S Ian Finaly (1 Cn Cois, 1 Bde), S/S Sean Gannon (1 Cn Cois, 1 Bde) and Comdt Neil Taylor (J7, DFHQ). The next challenge is scheduled for 25th June. It will take place in the DFPES, DFTC. EU NORDIC BATTLE GROUP E U Nordic Battle Group (EU NBG) 2015 – 1, was formally activated on 01 January this year. Based in Cork, it's comprised of three main components; a (F) HQ Component, which will be deployed to Sweden, an ISTAR Task Force and Force Support Elements, which are both located in Ireland, but may deploy to Sweden on exercise or training. The nations involved in EU NBG 2015 – 1 are; Sweden as framework nation, Finland, Nor- way and Estonia. There are three main phases to EU NBG; the selection phase, already completed last year, the concentration and training phase that is ongoing until 31 December and the standby phase, running from 01 January 2015 to 30 Jun 2015. An invitation has also been received for Ireland to join an EU Battle Group in 2016, with Luxembourg, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Germany act- ing as framework nation.

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