An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 9 By cPl lee coyle Photos a/s davey Jones O n the 2nd february 2018, the Minister with responsibility for defence, Mr Paul Kehoe td, accompanied by chief of staff vice admiral Mark Mellett dsM, attended a ceremony to award a distinguished service Medal (dsM) and commenda- tions to members of the naval service in haulbowline naval Base. The awards relate to actions during one of the largest drug seizures in the history of the state. The successful op- eration, codenamed 'Operation Seab- ight' was conducted in cooperation with An Garda Síochána and Customs agents, and involved the tracking and interdiction of the yacht Dances with Waves on the 5th November 2008. The operation culminated with the boarding and seizure of the yacht by Na- val Service personnel approximately 150 nautical miles south-west of Mizen Head in extremely challenging conditions. The boarding party located and seized in excess of 1,800kg of cocaine with an estimated value of €750m. They also detained and escorted the vessel to Castletownbere, where it was handed over to Customs and Excise of- ficials, assisted by An Garda Síochána. During the ceremony Lt Cdr Jamie Cotter received a DSM, with Distinc- tion, for his actions as Boarding Officer during the operation; actions which displayed 'bravery, courage and devo- tion to duty in an extremely hazardous operational environment'. Minister Kehoe said he was delight- ed to award the Distinguished Service Medal with distinction "in recognition and celebration of the bravery and devotion to duty." When asked about the operation by members of the media attending the ceremony, Lt Cdr Cotter said, "Condi- tions were challenging with darkness, high winds and sea swells, which complicates things when trying to board unseen and get command of the vessel [but] we were confident of our training. We also have the equip- ment and the people in the right place to conduct these sorts of missions." Asked how he felt after the mission he said, "An immense sense of pride and satisfaction in stopping such drugs reaching our shores." Cdr Eugene Ryan (retd) and Lt Cdr Martin Brett received commendations for their actions during the operation. Cdr Ryan was Commander of Fleet Operations ashore with overall respon- sibility of the operation, while Lt Cdr Brett, OC LÉ Niamh, was in tactical command of the two-ship task group that conducted the boarding action. Speaking to the media, Cdr Ryan said, "I had to weigh up how dan- gerous the op was versus what was at stake, and I made the decision to board. The weather was deteriorat- ing with force 7-8 winds when I gave the command to board and it took a total of seven minutes to take over the vessel and subdue any occupants on board. "I'm proud of the people I've worked with, the professionalism of the crew, and the other member of the Drugs Joint Task Force: the Gardaí and Cus- toms officers. We need to work together to make these ops work." Lt Cdr Brett was asked how he felt before the boarding. "There's a sense of fear and trepidation before an operation like this," he said, "and I was grateful when the operation was a success. Part of the Naval Service's role and remit is to protect Ireland's seas and keeping these sorts of drugs out of circulation." This was the first time that the Na- val Service had executed this style of interdiction operation in international waters and it presented significant command and control challenges that required flexibility by operations staff ashore and personnel at sea at the tactical level. Minister inspects NS Guard of Honour Cdr Eugene Ryan (retd) receives his commendation Lt Cdr Brett receives his commendation Lt Cdr Jamie Cotter received his DSM, with Distinction

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