An Cosantóir

irish personnel reduce in EUFOR BIH | 13 Col Pat Phelan, SIO EUFOR BiH, presents the Force Commander, Major Gen Bernhard Bair, Austrian Army, with the traditional bowl of shamrock on the morning of the 17 Mar 2011. AMBASSADOR'S PHOTO BY MARKUS RUMPOLD and courtesy of EUFOR BiH Press Office www.euforbih.org assist- ing him in this task. It is assessed that this staff grouping will remain in situ until at least January 2012. The Force Commander's Office also remains unaffected by the Irish reduction. Major General Bernhard Bair (AU) has two DF officers on his personal staff; a military advisor (OF-4) and a special advisor (OF-3).The seventh and final mem- ber of the component is the HQ Cmdt. The exodus of Irish personnel in July and the 38 ap- pointments that have been vacated by them is likely to have had significant effects. Irish officers and senior NCOs, in particular, had become both the mainstay and corporate knowledge for much of the daily routine at Force HQ and HQ Cmdt alike. The mine-awareness edu- cation campaign had been spearheaded by an Engineer Corps company sergeant; the control and custody of EU- FOR's non-assigned vehicle fleet had been vested in an Irish BQMS, and both the contracts and audit functions at J8 Finance were the remit of Irish CQMSs. Add to these the appointments of senior NCO at the Joint Visitor's Bu- reau/Protocol Section, the chief of the Air Travel Office at HQ Cmdt (RSM/BQMS), and the senior NCO in Training Section, and one can readily appreciate the vacuum that has likely now ensued to a lesser or greater degree since July. It was my experience in EUFOR BiH that DF person- nel and their contribution to the mission and camp life were highly regarded by superiors and subordinates alike. They were viewed as fair and reasonable in all their dealings with the many nationalities inhabit- ing the camp. They were also renowned for their helpful nature and at times limitless patience with colleagues who may have been challenged in both experience and language skills. In short, I believe that the reduction of DF numbers in EUFOR BiH will have a disproportionate impact on the operations of the HQ and of HQ Cmdt Div. The true measure or calculation of that impact may only be possible towards the end of 2011 and into 2012. The withdrawal of the eight provost personnel and the seven verification team members will also be significant. It is anticipated that the configuration of the mission in BiH will soon change. Successive recent manpower and organisational reviews (MORs) have engaged with the subject and have been reducing personnel establish- ments and running costs accordingly. The 'migration to a training mission' discussions and rumours have long abounded and the full handover of all security-related duties to the BiH authorities is viewed as inevitable and to be welcomed. I suspect that this sizeable withdrawal of Irish personnel may well hasten that process and consideration. Affectionately known as the 'Irish Mafia', successive components since 2005 have made an enor- mous contribution to camp and mission life. The history of DF involvement in EUFOR BiH continues to be another proud chapter in the force's long and distinguished record of overseas service. Every good wish and contin- ued success to the 14th Irish Component now resident at Camp Butmir. Go dté siad slán. THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

• Cover