An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 23 Vox Pops CPl Seán MorriSSey (in- STruCTor), 1 Cav Sqn, Col- linS BKS, CorK "I have 15 years' service in 1 Cav Sqn and completed my own recce course four years ago and my recce command- er's course a year later. The students have shown how in- terested they are and that they are fast learners. It's great to see the RDF getting more integrated through courses like this." CPl aDrian CorKery, 1 Bar, CollinS BKS, CorK "I was looking forward to this course and found it an excellent experience. It gave me a chance to brush up on some navigation skills, espe- cially night navigation, which I would have been unsure of before. We have a good group on the course with high skill levels, which helps a lot with the pressure of setting up an OP. I would definitely encourage other RDF members to put their names forward for the course." SGT eaMonn MClouGhlin, 1 inF Bn, Dun ui MhaoilioSa, Galway "The course is sold as being tough, and rightly so, but it's very good and also enjoyable. The instruction is good and it is being run very well, which is important, with some tasks being complicated and demanding. It is one of the best courses I have done so far in the RDF and is very appli- cable to members of the infantry. It gave me a chance to work with a small group with high standards, which improved my infantry skills and fitness level." TPr BrenDan MCCarThy, 2 Cav Sqn, CaThal BruGha BKS, DuBlin "The course is very challeng- ing and physically tough. I am an avid orienteer, and came first in the male over-40s DF championships this year, which helped me with the navigation side of the course. But the night navigation was completely dif ferent and took me a bit to get used to it. The group on the course are very en- thusiastic, which helps with tasks like the model building because everyone just gets stuck in. I would recommend the course to all RDF members." (SERE) training. SERE-qualified instructors with the course gave the students a brief intro- duction to the subject, which included field food prepara- tion, cooking, shelter and fire construction. These lessons were good for the students, as they were broken into groups different to their detachments, allowing for greater cohesion within the group. The main focus of this week was the prep and execution for 'Keep Close', a 72-hr FTX in which the scenario involved working in an ATCP role to conduct recon and surveillance tasks for the Garda Síochána. For the exercise the students were dropped off in the Knock- mealdown area, where they were given an area to locate a hide from which to operate. As an added difficulty target personnel were operating in the vicinity, which led to a covert tab-in to the hide location. The FTX serials played out over the next three days includ- ed inserting an OP, conducting close target recces (CTRs), and meeting with informants. Working from Garda intelli- gence the students had to piece together an intelligence picture to turn the ATCP role into a green role. The students also had to perform a raid during a hos- tage situation. Overall, the ef fort level of the students was immense, and while many were pushed to their limits they all came through and showed that their initial interest and en- thusiasm hadn't waned. As course sergeant, I was very pleased with the learning out- comes and felt that all students, regardless of rank, could go back to their units and pass on the skills and knowledge they had learned. I was also very fortunate to have a highly skilled, dedicated group of instructors and staff, who I relied on throughout the course. It also helped that I had great support staff from within 1 Cav Sqn RDF because without good support staff these courses would not happen. Finally I would like to encourage any RDF personnel thinking of doing this course to look out for it on the annual training diary next year and put their name down. This is how we can build on the skills within the reserves. Tpr Pratt instructing on SERE training Sgt McLoughlin, 1 Inf Bn (RDF)

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