An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir June 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 30 | By LT COL (RDF) GERRY MAGUIRE, SSO RDFTE, HQ DFTC PHotoS By SGT (RDF) MICK MULLIGAN, OTW, INF SCH C ontinuous professional development (CPD) and professional military education (PME) are important platforms used in developing the single-force con- cept (SFC) as part of the creation of a viable and effective Defence Forces reserve. Regular CPD events have been delivered by the Military College since the reorganisation of the RDF in 2013, with the objective of increasing the military skills of officers and nCos to allow them per- form more effectively as part of the regular unit they are assigned to. the attendance of significant numbers of re- servists at these events indicates the strong desire among reservists to improve their military knowledge and skills. In late 2016 it was proposed that reserve leader CPD should be developed by the staging of a military history case study of a relevant DF operation. A combined DFTC G7 and Military College team selected the Siege of Jadotville, which involved A Coy, 35 Inf Bn, in the Congo in 1961, as a suitable subject as it was a company-level operation, the sub-unit level that many reserve officers and NCOs operate at and therefore the most relevant to their military experi- ences and understanding. A proposal for the project was approved by J7 in early 2017 and planning began. Comdt Lar Joye RDF, a curator at the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), Collins Bks, Dublin, was contacted for his spe- cialist knowledge and advice. It was decided that a number of selected guest speakers were required to achieve the de- sired objective of properly examining and understanding the Jadotville operation. Comdt Joye used his contacts to request the attendance of Declan Power, former member of the Defence Forces and author of the book The Siege at Jadot- ville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle, which was the basis for the recent successful Netflix film on the operation, and Capt Noel Carey (retd), who had been a platoon commander with A Coy, 35 Inf Bn. Both men kindly agreed to attend. It was decided to stage the event in the NMI, where the experience of the attendees could be further developed by hands-on access to military vehicles and equipment of the period. The auditorium in the NMI has a capacity of 65 seats and places were allocated to all formations accordingly. With many RDF events, confirming attendance numbers can be difficult, and it was with great delight that nominations for all places were received by the Officer Training Wing (OTW), Military College. Lt Noel Carey with two members of A Coy 35 Inf Bn in Jadotville

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