An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir October 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 38 | Paul O'Grady NS OPS COmd, ShOre OPS, SeamaN BraNCh, POSted diviNG SeCtiON aBle SeamaN I was born and raised in Clongeen, Co Wexford. My older brother and his friend enlisted in the army together and it was the stories my brother told about his train- ing in the Curragh that sparked my interest in joining up. As my father was a fisherman I decided to apply for the Naval Service as well as the army and after complet- ing the enlistment process for both of them I ultimately decided on the Naval Service, enlisting in November 2013. After recruit training I completed my basic seamanship training, which includes a lot of different courses like Per- sonal Survival Techniques; Basic Marine Damage Control and Fire Fighting; Personal Safety and Social Responsibili- ties; NS RIB Level 1; and Naval Boarding Team Member. This qualified me as an ordinary seaman (O/Sea). In September 2014 I was posted to LÉ Aisling for my two years at sea, during which I completed the NS Rib Level 2 course and the Seaman Gunner course, and passed out as an able seaman (A/Sea) in September 2015. My time with LÉ Aisling was very busy and I was away from home a lot doing patrols: this is a down- side to the navy, but time goes really quickly too. On one of our patrols we went to the Royal Navy's base in Portsmouth, England. It was great to see other ships and to meet their crews share their experiences. I was still serving on the Aisling when I applied for the Naval Diving course. I had a bit of interest in div- ing before I enlisted and when I saw the navy divers in action my interest grew. I talked to a few of the divers and to people who had completed the course before to get information on what is expected on the course and when the next course would be carried out. I applied for the course twice before being successful in January of this year. I was due to finish my two years at sea some time before the course started but I decided to stay at sea, on LÉ William Butler, for an extra three months so I could keep training and stay focused for the course. The aptitude test for the course included some gruel- ling tests like endurance finning, high jumps and mass clearance. The 12-week course itself was the toughest thing I have ever done, but it was 100% worthwhile and I am now part of the Diving Section, where our main task is to conduct ship bottom searches. These are conducted on all NS ships monthly and quarterly, during which we do a full hull survey (checking for cracks and dents), check props and shaft, and check the adenoids for barnacles. During the week we are also all on call for any emergency and on the weekend there is usually a team of six on call. We work with the Gardá, RNLI and the Coast Guard on a variety of different tasks. One such recent task was the search relating to Rescue 116. This was my first task after finishing the course and I was a bit nervous. My role was to support the divers who were diving on the wreckage by dropping shot lines and prepar- ing equipment. We spent two weeks at the crash site and another four days a few weeks later to facilitate civil- ian divers. It was a very tragic event to be part of. Since then I've completed a number of other diving courses on equipment maintenance and full face mask and re-breather diving, and I want to go further in diving, which will help me advance my career in the Naval Service. By Cpl lee Coyle photos AMn AdAM Murphy

• Cover