An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 15 consistent, meticulous standards of the flight attendant crew. She told us: "Our taskings have expanded from that of purely a VIP trans- port operation to more varied roles, such as general air transport, search-and-rescue support, medical transfers, conveying cargo and humanitarian missions. This diverse nature of operations, occasionally at short notice to far flung destinations, ensures an appealing, chal- lenging and ultimately rewarding experience for all." After every flight the planes are scrubbed, inside and out, not just for the sake of appearance but because at any time they may be required to act as flying ambulances and consequently must be surgi- cally clean, to prevent infection of either the patient or the crew. The job of the attendants doesn't stop there, however, as they are also responsible for care on the ground for the dignitaries, patients and of- ficials that pass through Baldonnel. For many of the foreign dignitar- ies that land here, it is their first experience of being in Ireland, and the care and attention they receive in these first moments can create a lasting impression of the country. Just like the CASAs, 102 Sqn's Gulfstream IV and Learjet can be recon- figured for a multitude of scenarios. In its air ambulance role the Learjet uses a LifePort system, which consists of a self-contained stretcher unit with power-pack and oxygen. A special incubator can also be attached for neonatal transport. This setup has saved many lives. In February 2011, when the uprising was taking place in Libya, the Gulfstream IV, CASA 235 and the Learjet were used for the evacuation of Irish citizens from Tripoli Airport to Baldonnel. During this mission they also transported a critically injured patient to Malta for immedi- ate care. This was a successful, short-notice mission that made a real difference to people trapped in Libya. 103 Sqn, which is responsible for all maintenance and ground handling of the Wing's ten aircraft, has the most personnel. RSM John Green is the senior NCO in charge. "My role as the senior NCO and senior aircraft inspector in the unit is extremely demanding and challenging at times," he told us. "However, given the commitment and dedication of the personnel in the unit, it is also fundamentally very rewarding; in particular when aircraft are delivered from mainte- nance, enabling operations to be completed successfully." He explained to us the substantial maintenance activities and complicated crewing rosters necessary to ensure that, where pos- sible, aircraft are available for all operational, air ambulance, training and stand-by missions. To meet its requirements to support aircraft operations, including scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, and provide ground handling for aircraft, including visiting foreign mili- tary and civilian aircraft, the unit provides a two-shift, duty mainte- nance and ramp crew of four personnel 24/7. Duty crews can be extremely busy due to the numerous flights that can occur at any time, and particularly when operating in sup- port of the Garda Air Support Unit (GASU), during late night/early morning MATS flights, and air ambulance missions. In addition, they must also support the normal range of daily operations for the Cess- nas and CASAs. The remainder of the squad- ron's inspectors and techni- cians provide the necessary technical sup- port to ensure continued airworthiness of the aircraft fleet through daily/weekly maintenance regimes, including completing the minor and major scheduled maintenance inspections across the fleet. Some of these inspections are extremely detailed and require substantial disas- sembly of the aircraft concerned, taking up to six weeks to complete. Once an aircraft arrives into the hangar for maintenance there is a real drive to get it flying again, as everyone is aware of the varied and important missions undertaken by the Wing: in effect, planes in the air can help save lives. Given the large and varied fleet operated by No 1 Ops Wing, the training of personnel on all five aircraft types is of paramount impor- tance to ensure that they have the necessary skills and experience required to perform and certify all maintenance activities to regula- tory and airworthiness standards. However, in the current financial climate, maintaining this level of training, in particular for recently- promoted personnel, is proving extremely challenging and is leading to an ever increasing workload for maintenance crews. Due to the varied roles undertaken by the Wing, maintenance crews have to be ready to refit all of the Wing's aircraft for any of the multitude of jobs that can come in at short notice. This requires real teamwork, leadership and delegation, with individuals taking the initiative for their areas of responsibility and also ensuring compliance with the requirement to inspect each others work, when necessary. Exhaustive checks are required and constantly carried out, as the airworthiness of the aircraft and the safety of passengers and crew are paramount: something the ground crews never lose sight of. The Cessna 172, one of the most successful aircraft in history, forms the backbone of 104 Sqn. Ideal for slow, low-level flying, it can be used for shadowing internal security operations, providing essential communications backup, conducting the all important route recce, and keeping ground-bound commanders in the picture regarding potential threats. Having a long history of being used for observation and command/control/communications (C3) missions, the Cessna is the fixed-wing aircraft that ground troops would have mostly worked with. While the Cessna's small cockpit doesn't provide the most comfort- able work space in the world, one of them broke the world record for flight endurance (65 days), so reliability is not an issue. However, that increases the pressure on pilots who may have to remain airborne in this confined environment for considerable periods of time. Despite this Lt Paul McDermott says: "It's a brilliant unit. Our aircraft can op- erate out of the majority of airfields, so you really do get to see every part of the country, and there are few other sections of the Air Corps that have such a variety of roles." Photo Section (105 Sqn) is grouped with No 1 Ops Wing as its main duties are performed on fixed-wing aircraft. After a four-month course covering the technicalities of photography, the prospective photographer still has to complete dunker and sea-survival training before they are classed as operational photographers. Once qualified, the photographer will spend a lot of time working with the CASA's on maritime patrols, forming an essential link in the chain that polices the seas. Over the years the role of Photo Section has expanded to include covering a lot of taskings from the Defence Forces Press Office. This has resulted in some of the photographers' work hitting the pages of the national newspapers. The man in charge of this multi-faceted unit is OC No 1 Ops Wing, Lt Col James Lynott. He summed up his job as follows: "With the amount of moving parts in No 1 Ops Wing, from the aircraft, to the people, to the variety of tasks; being in command of one of the busiest operational units in the Defence Forces is a testing experi- ence, but also a great source of personal pride derived through the spirit, commitment and resilience of the men and women under my command."

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