An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir Dec 2014/Jan 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 24 | 24 | by CAPT DóNAL GALLAGHER, DF PRESS OFFICE PhotoS: CPL NEVILLE COUGHLAN Exercise Joint Action Nordic Battlegroup 15 (NBG 15) Tasks allotted to the Battlegroup, the 'Petersberg Tasks' are an integral part of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). They were explicitly included in the Treaty on European Union (Article 17) and complimented by The Treaty of Lisbon (Article 42 of the Treaty on the European Union) and cover five key headings: Humanitarian and Rescue Tasks, Conflict Prevention and Peacekeeping Tasks, Tasks of Combat Forces in Crisis Management, including peacemaking, Joint Disarmament Operations, Mili- tary Advice and Assistance Tasks and Post-Conflict Stabilisation tasks. During Exercise Joint Action, the Nordic Battle- group is deployed to a fictional country and in co-operation with civil and non-governmental or- ganisations is tasked with containing and providing assistance to a severe humanitarian situation. The Irish Defence Forces form the ISTAR (Intelli- gence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Recon- naissance) Task Force element of the Battlegroup. This is arguably the most important asset in the Battlegroup. It entails the use of intelligence gather- ing sensor elements, including reconnaissance and sniper detachments, feeding information into higher echelon intelligence processing and analysis cells. Addressing interna- tional media at the ex- ercise area in Hagshult Airbase, Sweden, Deputy Commander of the Nordic Battlegroup Colonel Howard Berney stated: "The Nordic Battlegroup is capable of being on site in a crisis area within 10 days of an EU decision. Over the duration of Exercise Joint Ac- tion, the Nordic Battlegroup and all of its con- stituent parts have proven themselves more than capable of fulfilling this. If the EU decides to use the Nordic Battlegroup, then it could well be as support in a humanitarian mission, but if required, we also possess decisive mili- tary capabilities. We have trained and are prepared for both sides of that opera- tional spectrum." I n 1996, the then Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that, "Irish for- eign policy is more about self defini- tion- simply put, for many of us, it is a statement of the kind of people we are." Ireland has long seen its place as part of established international institutions, working towards the collective help of, and consensus of many, rather than oper- ating purely to meet one's own interests. Earlier this month, 180 personnel from the Irish Defence Forces took part in 'Exercise Joint Action' as part of the EU Battlegroup 2015. This exercise is the final training assess- ment that will qualify military personnel before they go on a 6 month standby period for deploy- ment, commencing January 2015, where subject to a political consensus amongst all 28 EU member states, they can be tasked to any conflict region within a 6,000 mile radius of Brussels alongside troops from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia and Lithuania. CQMS Brendan Fahy on tactical manoeuvres in Hagshult, Sweden. ISTAR Task Force Comdr Lt Col Paul Carey and Capt Robert Moriarty disembarking from a Black Hawk helicopter. Col Howard Berney briefs members of the International media at Hagshult Airbase, Sweden.

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