An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 38 | I enlisted on May 13th 1976. I had been working in a pub at the time and was looking for something different. one of my uncles had served in 2 Fd Arty Regt and always told great stories about serving in the DF, so that made me think about joining up. I formed up with 13 Recruit Platoon, 2 Fd Arty Regt, in McKee Bks. Our platoon commander was Lt Fitzsimons (who retired not long ago as a colonel) and Sgt O'Brien was the platoon sergeant. Not long af ter passing out as a three-star private, I went on my initial gunner's course, where I learned how to be a member of a gun detachment on vari- ous artillery weapons, including the 25-pounder and its predecessor the 4.5-inch howitzer: there wouldn't be many serving members lef t that would have fired the latter. We were also lucky enough to cover the 12-pounder coastal defence gun thanks to a ship's visit that coincided with our course. We were trained on the weapon and got to fire it as the ship approached. Later I went on to cover the 105mm howitzer when it replaced the 25-pounder in the '90s. September 1979 was very memorable time for me in the DF as 2 Fd Arty Regt had the privilege of providing a guard of honour at the airport for Pope John Paul II's arrival for his visit to Ireland. Another good memory was the 1980 Dublin bin strike. It was great to be able to get out and help the people of Dublin and to see how appreciative they were for what we were doing. That same year I went on my first overseas trip, to Lebanon with 48 Inf Bn UNIFIL, as a member of an anti-tank crew. I remember being told during form-up training that in a modern battle the expected lifespan of an anti- tank crew was only about three minutes from the time they fired their first round. I omitted to tell my wife this information, so this will probably be the first time she hears about it. When I returned home I went to work in the HQ Bty stores with RQMS Tommy Whelan. While work- ing there I went on a tentage course with a really good friend of mine, Gnr Joe O'Halloran. Af ter the course we were put in charge of all the tentage for 2 Fd Arty Regt. Working in the stores gave me the chance to do some computer courses, which were very hard to get at the time; these included CAPS and Lotus 123 courses. With the DF re-org of 2012, 2 Fd Arty Regt was amalgamated with 4 Fd Arty Regt to form 2 Bde Arty Regt and the HQ and all its batteries were moved to Custume Bks, Athlone. While it was a sad time to see my home unit move out, I was lucky to stay in McKee Bks as there was a stores driver required in the Bk Accountant's stores under CQMS Paul Gifford. I was attached to McKee Bks Coy in January 2013 and have been employed there since. Among my main tasks are carrying out stock checks of the stores and the dining complex to ensure that the CQ knows what stores are required to be ordered and issued. I deliver stores around the bar- racks, sometimes by forklif t, and also take in stores if the CQ is un- available. I also deliver furniture and other items to all 2 Bde loca- tions, and assembling the furniture if it is flat packed. I am the last serving member of my recruit platoon, and hope to serve for another two years until I retire at 60. REPoRT & PHoToS by CPL LEE COYLE Joe o'RouRke 2 BAR/Att Mckee Bks coy GunneR

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