An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir November 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 14 | By CoMDt StEPhEn MoluMPhy, oC A & SuPPoRt CoyS, 3 InF Bn A t the beginning of the three-star course conducted by 3 Inf Bn in July 2017, oC 3 Inf Bn, lt Col Mark Brownen, issued his commander's intent to me, as company commander, that their final tactical exercise in the Glen of Imaal would encompass not only a land com- ponent but also air and sea components, in order to demonstrate the importance and capability of joint operations within the DF. the reasoning being that two-star soldiers who experience this type of op- eration at the beginning of their careers would have a permanent mind-frame for DF joint operations in the future, which will help develop our capability. With this planning guidance and with the Naval Operational Command Centre (NOCC) and Air Corps Operations eager to assist, Exercise 'Céim Deireanach' was de- signed to achieve the learning outcomes and training objectives as per the three- star course syllabus, with an additional focus on achieving this through joint military operations. The conventional phase of the exercise began on a clear Monday morning with 37 members of 145 Two-Star Platoon depart- ing in convoy from James Stephens Bks at 0700hrs. On reaching their drop-off point in Donard, they were tasked with conducting a route march over Lobawn and into Stranahealy Forest, where they would establish a patrol harbour and base camp procedures. From here the two-stars were tested in their patrolling capabilities by day and by night, against an opposition-held outpost. The opposition forces, wearing foreign DPM uniforms, had an active perimeter in defence, which made it difficult for friend- ly force recce patrols to gain valuable info on the layout of the outpost. In addition, the enemy presented several challenges for the two-stars through CBRN attacks and conventional assaults. The culmina- tion of this phase resulted in a night-time fighting patrol that eliminated the threat and allowed the two-star platoon to be redeployed for future tasking. At 0400hrs on Day 3, following the successful fighting patrol, the two-stars were tasked with conducting a withdrawal in darkness from the patrol harbour to a 2 Lt Corbett gives fighting patrol orders in the Glen of Imaal

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