An Cosantóir

22 | THE CIS FACTOR always provide a number of challenges from a CIS perspec- tive but I thought that this year's would be less challenging for 62 CIS. The Assessments are usually held in the Glen of Imaal but this year's were to be conducted in Kilworth and, hence, we would be operating in a supporting role to 31 CIS. At our first planning conference in July I was asked to W provide a CIS detachment to assist the 2 Eastern Brigade in- fantry units involved, and to liaise with the lead unit, 31 CIS. As usual a C2 container was also required and Capt Sean Murphy of 31 CIS requested this for us through 1 Southern Brigade. I reported our tasking to OC 62 CIS who was more than happy that we could fulfil our limited role. By the time of our second planning conference in Sep- tember the location had shifted to the Glen of Imaal and we were back to being the lead unit. We were now tasked with providing the C2 container, a CIS detachment and a technical crew. We were also responsible for providing the Signal Plan and a rear-link to the Curragh. Thankfully, Capt Iain Conlon from 62 LSB was at this conference and he agreed to supply a Drops vehicle for the C2 container. This was a great boost as getting a Drops vehicle can be a real challenge and it is as important as the C2 container itself. Next, a quick e-mail to Capt Jimmy Barber of 2 Fd CIS to give him a 'heads-up' on my request for a C2 container, detachment car and trailer, plus an additional FFR. This was followed by an official request through the relevant chan- nels detailing the equipment we needed from 2 Fd CIS for the Assessments. As usual all the equipment was made available to us, this time by 2 Fd CIS and the CIS School in the DFTC. Next up was the plan to make the comms work and this year it presented a bigger challenge as comms were required from Coolmoney Camp right through the Glen, up to and including Stranahely Wood. Anyone who knows the basic rule of VHF radio operations will understand that line-of- sight is essential and with Cemetery Hill in the way this would not be possible. After I spoke to Capt Murphy about this problem he agreed to provide a detachment car on An Cosantóir April 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie BY CaPT JuLIaN eNSoR (62 CIS ReSeRve) hen my mobile rang and I saw it was Comdt Gerry Maguire of the RDFTA, I knew it was time to prepare for the 2011 RDF Assessments. These trailer on Cemetery Hill to act as a manual rebro. This was preferred to an automatic rebro so his personnel would get the opportunity to practice voice procedure and commcen drills, etc. Coincidentally, the final attacks were to be put in at on Cemetery Hill and I suggested to Comdt. Maguire that the attacking units should not take the CIS deployment as an objective as I had a vision of the 31 CIS personnel in POW cages and no comms on the exercise!! With this in place and having carried out a recce of the C2 site, which was close to the briefing shed in the camp, I was happy that this approach would work. Our chances of suc- cess were boosted considerably by a mast that was placed beside the hard-stand for the C2 with two aerials cabled to a junction box. This, along with electrical power points for the C2, immediately reduced our workload as we didn't have to deploy a Clark Mast or diesel generator. As the Assessments grew nearer we planned our tasks. Capt Martin Mulvey was to look after the C2 and act as the CIS officer in the Exercise HQ. Lt Declan O'Reilly was responsible for ensuring no units left the camp without the comms plan and establishing comms with the control station. He was assisted in this by crews drawn from each of the three RDF CIS units, which allowed us to get this done in the frantic time before the units crossed the start line. Cpl Gareth Corcoran was tasked as commander of a detachment of three for the Exercise HQ commcen. My role was liaison officer with the RDFTA. This allowed me sit in on the exercise orders, which provided me with a lot of useful information. Each of the CIS units also had a crew offering tech support to the infantry units on the ground, along with battery runs to keep the radios running for the 36-hour duration of the exercise. All-in-all a large number of personnel were required to deploy, maintain and close down this operation; 19 from 62 CIS and close to 30 altogether when you include the personnel from the other CIS units. Along with the exercise net we had to have an admin net to support the MPs, medics, transport, exercise assessors, etc. We used Motorola radios for this net and it had nearly as much traffic as the exercise net itself! Casualties are part

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