www.military.ie the defence forces magazine
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first time these excellent vehicles
were used by 7 Inf Bn on an exercise,
and they proved ideal in moving
stores over the rough, muddy, and
bumpy ground of the Glen that we
are all so familiar with! Gators were
also seen being used by the engi-
neers during the exercise, and could
be pressed into service in the role of
casualty evacuation if required.
The exercise continued for 72 hours,
and at all times was tactical, with all
participants camo'd up and carrying
full weapons and equipment.
The weather was generally warm
and humid for the duration of the
exercise, with the resident 'mozzies'
and other insects making sure they
were acquainted with everyone on
the ground.
Before dusk, as the enemy made
nocturnal probes, night vision equip-
ment and illumination flares were is-
sued and used by the dug-in platoons.
The enemy's final assault took
place on the last morning of the
exercise and 'EndEx' came on Thurs-
day 23rd, with all 7 Inf Bn personnel
returning to barracks to clean equip-
ment and weapons.
From my RDF point of view, exer-
cises like Combined Effort show the
single-force concept in action.
While our role is still modest,
we hope to build on this, and
this exercise showed us
the amount of plan-
ning and prepara-
tion that goes into
such endeavours.
Our continued
participation in
such exercises will
gives us the chance
to play on the same
team as our PDF col-
leagues.
Siting weapons
Reserve troops on Day 1
Lt Mick Kelly briefs the RDF platoon
Digging in for the defensive phase
Digging in
Endex - RDF
troops clean
weapons
Gator sets out with supplies
