An Cosantóir

36 | what i do CIARA SHEEHAN 2/LT 1 FLD ARTY REG On graduating from the Cadet School you are assigned to your unit. There are two aspects to my job. One would be on deployment on the gun line, and the other back in barracks. teaches you the deployment of artillery in the field. You are taught in the use of the L118 and L119 105mm field guns, and the Ruag 120mm mortar. You also learn the positions of Command Post Officer (CPO), and General Post Officer (GPO). On a YOs course you are given familiarisation on all of the other specialist equipment and positions used by an artillery regiment such as, Forward Observation Officer (FOO), the Mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Surveillance Target Acquisition LTAVs (Light Ar- moured Tactical Vehicles), so you know how they work and fit into the bigger picture. However, these are specialist courses which you do later. On the gun line you have a Battery Captain who is in command of the battery. Under him as a young As a junior officer you then have to complete a Corps specific Young Officers course. A YOs course artillery officer you have three main appointments: CPO, GPO and FOO. A battery will either have six L118 or L119 105mm field guns or six Ruag 120mm mortars. The battery is broken into a left and a right section. There are three guns in each. You have a sec- tion NCO for each of those. The GPO lays out the guns, he is almost like a Recce party as a lot of his work is done in advance. He works ahead of the gun and surveys them in. As each gun is laid he then moves onto the next position. The CPO is in charge of and on the gun line giving out the bearings and elevations to the gun crews. The CPO gets the target informa- tion from the FOO team, which is in a Forward Obser- vation Post. The CPO then calculates the information either manually on the plotter, or onto the two plotting computers the Gun Zen for the 105mm or the Gun Dog for the 120mm mortars. These in turn work out the bearings and elevations, which are then passed onto the guns. Barrack life is very similar to other units in the Defence Forces. You have our routine unit train- An Cosantóir May 2012 www.dfmagazine.ie Our unit is also responsible for the battery 6 QF 12pdr Coastal Defence guns on Fort Davis. The artillery is a great corps to work in. It brings a totally different aspect to life into the Defence Forces both at home and overseas. each year. Another aspect to an artillery regi- ments daily life is ceremonial duties. Ceremonial duties for artillery units are quite unique. For ceremonial purposes we are trained on and operate a battery of 6 Royal Ordnance QF 25pdr field guns. ing programme, duties, and courses. Keeping fa- miliarised with artillery equipment is a vital part of your annual training. A regiment is limited to the amount of time it can spend on the ground WHAT I DO

• Cover