An Cosantóir

"Give it a Go!" | 21 a lot of hard lessons about packing kit from the blisters and aches that followed! Week three was all about platoon attacks and getting the opportunity to practice our command test appointment, which could have been either platoon commander or platoon sergeant. As these were practice sessions for the only pass- or-fail part of the course, motivation was not a problem, even though we were completing up to four a day, with each one lasting up to two hours on average. The fourth week was centred around one mission verb – in almost sixty years, the dullest in fifty and the coldest in more than twenty. Completing the course successfully was our motivation as students for putting up with such dreadful conditions but there was no such carrot for the exercise troops. However, they persevered with great spirit to the credit of themselves and their units. 'Free play' was the theme of week four. Again, it was new Delay! It was a new concept in exercising troops and leaders and it showed that the syllabus was intent on breeding a new type of infantry sergeant. A delay exercise is essentially a form of retrograde operation comprising of all the forms of defen- sive tactics with the intended result of putting friendly forces in a position to launch a counter-attack. We had platoon areas of foxholes with orders to hold until a certain time. Once this was achieved the group in contact withdrew through the next platoon area. Done at night, through forest and in confusion, it was a real test of command, control and, just as importantly, liaison. An excellent posse of enemy (who had, we suspected, some inside information about our positions!) continued to harass us through the wet night and forced us to expect the unexpected and alter our reactions accordingly. In keeping with the overall concept of withdrawing to a space more favourable to offensive ops, we set up a forward operating base (FOB) in Coolmoney. It was probably the most realistic part of all the exercises as it mirrored the overseas environment in which we will be sergeants, complete with weapons stores, sentry positions, scheme-of-defence and the all important liaison with transport. But the FOB was there for a reason – to attack the enemy. It was a company-level attack which again helped us to see the bigger picture of operations, beyond the fixation on platoon attacks and helped us to hone our skills for the test appointments later on. to nearly all of us on the course, including some instructors. It consisted of two platoons of students, one against the other, operating in six grid squares. We students were given a free hand in the planning, organising and execution of recce-, stand- ing-, fighting- and ambush patrols, with the instructors taking a backseat. The winner was decided by firepower and drills in contact and by who could locate and destroy the enemy base camp. Fair play to the winners of 1 Platoon - excellent job! The last week was the one we were dreading. Even the worked out at three per day, enough time to allow recovery be- tween tests but fast enough to ensure it wasn't dragged out. Those in test appointment were told beforehand and given the opportunity to revise their notes on target grid procedure, casevac and the endless considerations of a platoon com- mander or sergeant. The appointments were done within our existing syndicates, which meant we had worked throughout the course with those who were acting as our section com- manders and 2 i/cs and knew them well. It was a system that worked and led to a very successful test week. The course culminated with the march back from the Glen, outstanding soldiers on the course were nervous. This was the test phase, pass-or-fail. One fail, one retest, and if you failed that you were gone. Having put in sixteen weeks between the All-Arms Course and the Infantry Standard Course, nobody wanted that. While locations and directions varied, the tempo of attacks an intense route march that was completed by both students and instructors. swelled with a biblical amount of rain, the recce group man- aged to construct two crossing points out of logs and tree trunks which proved successful for the return trip after we managed to destroy the remnants of the enemy's 231 Motor Rifle Regiment! This effort was made possible with the help of an attached 84mm crew from 27 Inf Bn. For the duration of the course we endured the wettest June To move that amount of troops over ground that had and physically, and which resulted in people either talking in their sleep about it or dreaming about platoon attacks and execution paragraphs when they managed to get the head down. But it left all of the students with a massive sense of accomplishment. For all those who completed the course, 'Job Oxo!'. For all those still left to try the course, in the words of Cpl Dean Jackson: "Give it a go!" The 1st Infantry Standard Course was intense, both mentally www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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