www.military.ie the defence forces magazine
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pte sarah O'Neill, military college
"My inspiration for undertaking the course was
spending time in the water with my young son
Casey. I suppose I have more of an awareness of
the dangers associated with water, so I wanted to
have the knowledge and skills to be able to act in
the event of an accident to someone in my family or
someone else."
pte lee Boyd, 28 Inf Bn
"My motivation in doing the course was sadly the
loss of Cpl Gavin Carey who drowned while swim-
ming in the sea last summer. While I didn't know
Gavin personally it gave me a greater awareness of
water safety and an appreciation of how people can
get in difficulty while swimming in the sea, in a pool
or shallow water."
pte monty Balaisis, 1 Inf Bn
"I am a member of the Defence Forces Kayaking Club
so I felt it would be beneficial to have the skills, confi-
dence and knowledge to assist someone should they
get into difficulty whilst in the water. I would like to
be able to react if I saw someone in difficulty. Swim-
ming and physical fitness is one of my main hobbies,
being water fit is a different level of fitness, so I was
glad to have the opportunity to improve."
Armn tadhg weadick, Air corps
"I work in No 3 Operations Wing, so I spend a lot of
time working in a maritime environment and it's
beneficial to have the skills associated with water
safety and life saving. A lot of my training is conduct-
ed in open water in the Irish Sea, various inland lakes
and off the West Coast of Ireland, so I see the dangers
of water first hand. I have an interest in the sport of
swimming and hope to complete my Swim Teacher
Training later this year."
Applying the level
DFPES Staff and Course Photo
Pte Adam George rescues Cpl Conor Tiernan
