An Cosantóir Dec 2015 / Jan 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie
14 |
Helping
by SGT WAYNE FITzGERALD
W
hile an often quoted saying asserts that 'charity
starts at home', there is nothing to say it should
stay there. that would certainly be the view of two
Dublin brothers, one of whom is a DF veteran, involved in set-
ting up the Irish Emergency Logistics team (IELt).
Will Holden, the founder and director of IELT, has over 20
years logistics experience working in the private sector and
with international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO)
including five years as a member of the emergency logistics
team with the World Food Programme. His brother Duane was
in the DF from 1984-91, serving with 5 Inf Bn, the Air Corps, and
2 Fd Arty Regt. (Their father, retired sergeant Willie Holden,
served for 23 years with 5 Inf Bn, E Comd HQ, and the ARW.)
While Will ( junior) has never served in the military he has a
wealth of experience of operating in combat zones. He was
senior logistics advisor with the Afghanistan Disposal Project,
which dealt with the disposal of non-military equipment for
the UK MOD, Danish and Australian armed forces and the dis-
mantling of Camp Bastion, Camp Souter Kabul and other FOBs
in Afghanistan in 2012/13. He also spent a year in Iraq as head
of logistics and procurement for the Danish Refugee Council.
From July to October this year he worked as interim supply
chain manager with an international NGO on the Turkey/Syr-
ian border dealing with the ongoing refugee crisis.
Will's experiences and the number of Irish people he en-
countered working with NGOs around the world reinforced his
opinion that Irish people's reputation as humanitarians and
peacekeepers is well earned. It was this belief that led to Will's
t h e
