An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 17 Berm, stretching 1,600kms along the entire territory and con- trol c. 80% of the land. Along this wall, and to its rear, there are between 100,000 - 120,000 RMA troops in various strong points or posts. "I am based on the western or 'Moroccan' side of this wall, in a team site near a town called Smara, working as an UNMO. Our main task is to conduct daily patrols to the RMA units in our AOR to ascertain that there has been no breach of the ceasefire. As a secondary tasking we check to ensure that they have not increased their numbers or equipment tables from the agreed levels or strengthened their positions. "It is a challenging environment as it is mostly desert, with very little infrastructure. We are equipped with Nissan Patrols and the majority of our patrolling is conducted on desert tracks so vehicle wear and tear and flat tires are com- mon problems. In addition, temperatures can reach up to 50°C, which can have quite an effect on the vehicles and the human body! "Furthermore, Western Sahara is very heavily mined, with a large quantity of unexploded ordnance still littering the territory. UNMOs are warned to be vigilant at all times regarding this problem and we spend a lot of time monitoring the destruction of these explosive remnants of war (ERW) by the RMA. "Personally I have enjoyed working here, as it has been different to my previous overseas experiences. While I have worked in multinational units before, they have mainly been with other Europeans. This is far more diverse, with soldiers from all over the globe, which makes for an interesting, and at times challenging, working environment." capt phillip Quinlan "My home unit is 7 Inf Bn and MINURSO is my third overseas mission, having previously served in KFOR and EUTM Somalia. We arrived in Western Sahara in January and began a week-long administrative in-processing. "I was deployed to a team site in Agwa- nit, 18km from the Mauritanian border, which is the southern-most team site on the eastern side of the berm. Life on the east and west sides differ in several ways. We are stationed with the Frente Polisa- rio as opposed to the RMA, and life in the east is an altogether more Spartan affair when one considers that the only means of contact with home are the office computers and landline phone, both of which depend on satellite commu- nications, as mobile phone networks don't extend that far into the desert. "Given our proficiency in English, Irish UNMOs can quickly find ourselves in one of the team site's staff appointments: I filled the S1 appointment for the majority of my time here. "Even though the heat can get into the 40°-50°C range at times I would say that it never really felt overpowering, as humidity is practically nil and there is an omnipresent strong wind. To me, the challenge of the mission came more from human factors than environmental ones. The MINURSO system has a constant turnover of UNMOs, which means that experience is continuously being lost with new UNMOs arriving, sometimes weekly; each requiring training on the conduct of patrols. Mixed into this, is the variety of ranks, branches, levels of experience and language capabilities. "The remoteness and routine nature of the mission is offset by a generous leave arrangement, with all UNMOs receiving 15 days leave for a six-month deployment and compensatory time off that is accumulated in their team site. Given that Western Sahara is a stone's throw away from Gran Canaria, this provides Irish personnel with excel- lent opportunities to return home quite quickly or travel without too much fuss." about the author: Berty Egerton is a former member of 2 Cav Sqn and is working as a driver with MINURSO's Civilian Transport Section. His duties include driving 6x6 trucks on re-supply convoys to the various team sites in the desert on journeys that can last for six days, with up to ten hours driving per day. The subsequent detonation of the UXO. Capt Phillip Quinlan in the vastness and almost featureless landscape of the desert. During a desert patrol Comdt Frank Colclough learns how stubborn camels can be.

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