An Cosantóir

in reserve | 25 t he Naval Service Reserve (NSR) is an integral part of the Naval Service. NSR personnel aug- ment the crews of each naval vessel, allowing regular seamen to take shore-leave. As well as going to sea NSR units are tasked throughout the year with other duties. Among these are ceremonial duties. the Naval Service takes ceremonial drill very seri- ously and it is not uncommon at a Naval Service passing-out to see a platoon form an anchor on the march. the annual NSR drill competition took place on November 5th in haulbowline. Drill competitions are still a regular part of the Reserve syllabus. As well as being an excellent team-building exercise a drill competition allows Reserve units stationed around the country to come together to meet and interact with their fellow reservists. In teams of eight to ten, the four NSR units turned out in their best No 1s and put on what can only be described as a great drill display. We are used to guards-of-honour and parades, but can you remem- ber when you last saw an actual drill display. It was absolutely fantastic. there were drill movements and commands used that this writer has never heard of. "Chun mall chéim athraigh, go mall máirseáil! (break into slow-time, slow march!" or "Druileálainn Speisi- alta!" (Special drill!). the choreography was entirely up to them, making for some very unique displays. After demonstrating foot- and arms-drill each unit had their own special drill movement. each movement, from lines to forming circles, then criss-crossing each other, were met with loud rounds of applause. the end result left all four teams very close. howev- er there can be only one winner, and Waterford came out on top. obviously, the untrained eye could not see what the judges did, so what were the judges looking for? "We are initially looking at their march onto the square," said lt Cdr tom hopkins, "and all four units did extremely well in that. Next, the presentation of uniforms was excellent, particularly from Dublin and limerick. the other thing we were looking at was the timings of the feet and arms. Its drill competitions like this that can tell us the standard of each unit so that if a ceremonial order comes in for a particular area we know that the unit is very capable." all judges agreed that a great effort was put in by all four units, particularly, they emphasised, when you take into account that the NSR are part-time person- nel. the resilience all four teams displayed in getting over these difficulties was highly complimented. "It was a team effort," said a cheerful l/Sea Jona- than Duggan (Waterford NSR), drillmaster of the winning team. "Waterford has no square, so we had to travel twice a week to Stephens bks, kilkenny. With guys working, out at sea and with other commit- ments it was very difficult to get a team together that could train twice a week. For me, I had to learn how to command my voice and build confidence. It was certainly worth it though." Drill Competition judges were: Lt Bernard Heffernan, Lt Cdr Tom Hopkins and Lt Donald O'Reagan THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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