An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 27 strike'," Lt McCann explained, "is that it is believed the mine was not purposely placed there to attack the peacekeepers but was left over from the 1970s and 1980s when the PLO laid the mines to prevent Israeli advances into the area." At the exercise site, the ESSC team had cleared a route from the hard stand (the road) to the vehicle and this was marked as a safe lane. Other Engineer Corps personnel, trained as fire- fighters, also took part in this scenario, with the fire NCO moving forward with the ESSC team to make the vehicle safe, starting with disconnecting the battery. Medics were also on hand and were called forward to assess the casualties. Hydraulic jaws were used to cut away the side of the vehicle to extract the driver and the roof was cut off to allow the passen- ger, who had a spinal injury, to be taken out on a stretcher board. This scenario required swift, co-ordinated action from the three different elements to get the casualties out speedily. The scenario was specially designed for the UNIFIL-bound engineer platoon as they will have both ESSC and fire-fighting responsi- bilities in addition in Lebanon along with its camp maintenance and force protection roles. SCenario 3: DunDalK area This scenario involved an offensive search requested by the gardaí as a result of a tip off about a weapons cache. Here Capt Peter Kellegher (27 Inf Bn) gave us a short brief in the Incident Control Point (ICP) about the security cordon being conducted by troops from 27 Inf Bn before the ESSCO, Lt Liam Grace, told us about the search operation, which was for a suspected quarter- master (QM) weapons cache. Lt Grace went on to explain that a QM-level weapons cache would contain the main weapons and ordnance for a subversive unit or a criminal gang. Similar structures, we were told, might include operational hides, set up to facilitate a specific opera- tion; transit hides, to facilitate movement of material; and depot hides, which would contain a large quantity of weapons and other items of ordnance. Most of the latter are believed to have been eliminated as part of the peace process. Col Burke told us: "We still teach this doctrine, which was devel- oped during 'the Troubles', as it still relates to on-island operations and is also relevant to current overseas missions." The ESSC team used a Vallon VMR3 dual-sensor detector, combining a metal detector with ground-penetrating radar to conduct a systematic sweep for both metal and low-metal- content items. Lt Grace brought us to a find, where an ESSC pair had detected and recovered two deeply-buried ammunition boxes. He told us that a Garda forensic team would come in to assess and cata- logue the find and a DF EOD team would be tasked if any IEDs or suspect devices were found. SCenario 4: ST PeTer'S ChurCh, DunDalK The ESSCO on this site was Capt Tarlach Doorley, who delivered the initial brief in the ICP where he explained that they had received an ATCP task to conduct a defensive search of a church in advance of a funeral that was due to be attended by a prominent Northern Ireland politician who could be the subject of an attack. Capt Doorley said: "The search of the church and grounds has been broken down by the RAG (Red, Amber, Green) method. Red areas are where the VIP will be or are adjacent to his route, and, being of the highest importance, are cleared first; Amber includes areas where a detonation might not be fatal to the target but could cause serious damage to other personnel and to the event; Green areas are more remote from the event and the target but would still be cleared, time permitting, to prevent detonation of devices that could cause severe disruption and embarrassment." Inside the church we were shown how the ESSC team was searching using state-of-the-art equipment that could detect the silicon in microchips or circuit boards. There were also tele- scopic cameras used to look into hard-to-reach areas like under floors, within and behind walls, and within and behind pipes and electrical conduit. The MMT multipurpose detector being used on the exercise to detect particles and vapours actually found a real narcotics stash, to the great interest of the gardaí present. Back in the exercise scenario, an incendiary device was found in a book on the balcony and made safe. Responding to a question at the end of our visit, Col Burke said: "It takes eight weeks to train an ESSC team: six weeks learn- ing the tactics and procedures and how to use the equipment, and two weeks of assessments. All students have prior knowledge of explosives and booby-traps as privates and NCOs would have completed their 12-week Combat Engineer course and officers would have completed explosives and mine-warfare modules on their YOs course." DCOS Sp, Maj Gen Kevin Cotter, thanked Col Burke and the exercise staff for the briefings and congratulated them on the realistic scenarios and the level of skill witnessed during the exercise by the participating personnel. He also thanked 27 Inf Bn for the support they provided to the exercise.

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