An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 5 Manager Comdt Colin Lawlor info@military.ie +353 (0)45 44 5306 Editor Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald magazine@military.ie +353 (0)45 44 5307 Connect Sgt Karl Byrne connect@military.ie Photo/Journalist Cpl Lee Coyle journalist@military.ie Photographer Armn Adam Murphy photo@military.ie 045 44 5307 Subscriptions Cpl Kelly Gallagher +353 (0)45 44 5312 subs@military.ie DF/PR Information Cpl Lynn Ryan admin@military.ie +353 (0)45 44 5308 DF Webmaster Sgt Mick Burke +353 (0)45 44 5309 webmaster@military.ie Magazine Archivist Mr Sean Shinnors Designer/Advertising JM Publishing & Media, Arklow, Co. Wicklow,Ireland Tel: +353 15331911 Tel: +353871344135 Web: www.jmpublishing.ie Email: info@jmpublishing.ie Printer Turner's Printing Co., Ltd Earl Street, Longford, Ireland Tel: +353 (0)43 3350500 The fact that an article appears in this magazine does not indicate official approval of the views expressed by the author. © Published by OiC Public Relations Branch for the Defence Forces at DFHQ, Block 5, Ceannt Bks, DFTC, Curragh Camp, Co Kildare, Ireland. Tel: +353 (0)45 445312 Front Cover 3 Inf Bn Sniper pictured during Exercise Turas Fada by Armn Adam Murphy For more Defence Forces photographs, checkout: www.flickr.com/photos/ dfmagazine Editorial H ello and welcome to our May issue. We travelled far and wide to bring you this month's stories from around the Defence Forces community; reporting on a wide variety of topics, from polished boots and sparkling medals to the rolling hills and dirt tracks of Ireland, as we endeavour to cover all aspects of military life. Thank you for your contributions. Unfortunately, we are limited in the number of photos we can display in our popular On Parade feature but we do appreciate all your submissions. Please keep it up. In Focus travels as far back as 1845, as we take a bus tour through Dublin's Great Famine history, and as far away as Australia with a look at Jimmy Scott's book 'A Long Journey Travelled', which tells his experiences since being blinded in an accident. For Veterans News I witnessed former colleagues from 5 Inf Bn re-enacting the unit's departure from Collins Bks 20 years ago. Our front-cover feature is on Kilkenny-based 3 Inf Bn's large-scale exercise 'Turas Fada', which took place around Knock Airport and included many 1 Bde units. Then we visit the Air Corps Military Training School to follow students on one of the DF's toughest courses; the SERE Level C Instructor Course. Next up is a short feature on 7 Inf Bn's RDF companies' annual range practices. Then, in Rebuilding Somalia, CPO/ERA Ruairí de Barra looks at international efforts to support the Somali government in combating piracy and lawlessness off their coast. Paul O'Brien then looks at Cyber Warfare: Attacking the Future. That's followed up a report on the Infantry Platoon Sergeants Course, looking at how we train corporals who aspire to be infantry sergeants. Next we have two short pieces from Westmeath based around 1916. Mullingar Remembers 1916 looks at a new memorial that was recently unveiled, and Athlone Celebrates 1916 Centenary reports on the town's commemorations of the 1916 Rising. Our History features look at 1 Inf Gp's time at Kamina Air Base in Katanga, Congo, in May 1961; followed by a piece on Britain's Special Operations Executive, whose agents operated in occupied Europe during WWII. Our first of two Sports features looks at the benefits of the DF Hill Running Series and the second brings us to the Arctic Circle where Sgt Ann Marie Larkin takes on the Ice Ultra marathon. Plus, we have our regular Gear Up, Noticeboard, Reviews, and What I Do features. Finally, check out our competitions and results on pages 24, 35 and 36. Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald - Editor Sketches of the Army Equitation School T his artwork was worked up from sketches and photographs taken over several visits to the Army Equitation School by Liam Clancy. His family has a strong asso- ciation with the Defence Forces over the years, and with the Equit Sch in particu- lar, and it means a lot to him to be able to return to McKee Barracks with his sketchpad, camera and carry on that association - in some small way. Liam is a professional artist based in Abbeyleix whose work deals predominantly with equestrian and rural themes. He has strong family links to the Defence Forces going right back to the foundation of the Irish Free State. His cousin, Larry Kiely, show-jumped internationally during his service with the Equit Sch. Liam has a particular grá for the traditions and the spit and polish of soldier- ing, and hopes to produce more work on military themes in the future. His work can be seen on the Liam Clancy Fine Art page on Facebook. LM_Clancy@hotmail.com or +353 86 8980326

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