An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 23 minutes to an hour, with 100 marks available per stand. An additional com- petitive element was introduced by having two teams arrive at each stand at the same time. Tasks during the second day in- cluded cordon and search, recce of site for the deployment of a Role 1 hospital, care under fire, searching and se- curing compounds, FIBUA, POW search, CBRN, CIED, medi- cal, and environ- mental health assessments. At the end of this phase of the exercise the De- fence Forces team was in first place with a total score of 1,054 points out of a possible 1,200 points; an av- erage score of 90 points per task that in- cluded a 100 point score on the C-IED and 98 points on the care under fire task. Our closest competitor was on 962 points. The directing staff highlighted the fact that the two Irish teams (ourselves and 204 Fd Hosp from Northern Ireland) had scored top marks on the cordon and search/POW search stand which, they humorously stated, indicated our previous wealth of experi- ence with these types of operations. Phase 3 began the following morning with a timed battle run, carrying full kit and weapons, in which we finished second. The top three teams from the combined scores of phases 1, 2 and 3, then went head to head in a final one-mile urban battle run car- rying stretchers with 80kg dummies and logs. Our hard earned lead from phases 1 and 2 had been wiped out by our second place finish in the time trail and the eventual win- ners, 5th Armoured Brigade, had gained a 10-second head start for their first place finish. Despite a superb effort by all members of our team over final mile, we were unable to overcome the 10-second gap and remained in second place from start to finish. Our colleagues from Northern Ireland, 204 Fd Hosp, took the final medal spot with a well-deserved third place finish despite suffer- ing two injuries during the final day. While there was huge disappointment at not clinching the top spot, especially after such a fantastic performance on the first two days, there was consolation in regaining the perpetual trophy for second place for the second year running. In addition, the team received a number of individual accolades, with Best Officer and Best NCO awarded to Capt Waldron and Sgt Greene respec- tively. These awards were a testament to the professionalism, competency and demeanour of the entire Defence Force team, which acted as a composed and cohesive unit throughout. The directing staff also made special note of the performances of Cpl Jimmy Condon and Cpl Paul Burke, who both narrowly missed out on the award for best junior leader or soldier. Arduous Serpent is a superbly or- ganised and well run exercise. It is also a mentally and physical challenging experience from which our personnel have hugely benefited. This event has also allowed us to demonstrate the high standards of training and professionalism of the Defence Forces and has fostered excellent relationships between the Royal Army Medical Corps and the DF Medical Corps. The success of these relationships is evident from our recent joint deployment to Sierra Leone to assist in the international fight against the spread of Ebola. The developing relationship is also evident in the Battlefield Advanced Trauma Life Sup- por t (BATLS) course conducted in the DFTC in September for both DF and UK medical personnel, and which was conducted by instructors from both countries. I would like to finish with a word of thanks to all the staf f of the DFTC that assisted with our training; GOC 2 Bde, D J4 and OC 2 Cav Sqn and their staf fs for their assistance; and, finally, a special word of thanks for OC 7 Inf Bn and his logistics staf f, without whom we would have achieved very little during our training and preparation. The Irish team with the British and Canadian competitors. Pictured standing (L/R): Col Kerr (DMB), Cpl O'Sullivan (CMU RDF), Coy Sgt David O'Connor (CMU 2 Bde, Team Manager), Sgt Philip Green (CMU 2 Bde), Capt Gerry Waldron (CMU 2 Bde), Cpl Brian Corrigan (CMU Med Sch), Cpl Paul Burke (CMU HQ) and Pte Adam Boland (CMU HQ). Kneeling (L/R): Tpr Clare Durkin (2 Cav Sqn), Cpl Eric Hurley (CMU 2 Bde), Cpl Paula Burcheal (CMU DFTC), Pte Kelly Smith (7 Inf Bn) and Cpl James Condron (CMU 2 Bde).

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