An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 27 pate. This co-operation would allow the POTI course students to fill the command roles at company and platoon level. With Storm Emma having hit the country at the begin- ning of March and the consequent heavy deployment of DF, GS and Ambulance Services personnel, it was an arduous task to plan and co-ordinate the proposed joint exercise. However, after numerous planning conferences and phone calls the exercise was scheduled to take place in Gormanston Camp on 9th March. On the morning of the exercise there was an air of anticipation as Cpl Campbell began co-ordinating the exercise with the course instructors, Cpl Padraic Friel (28 Inf Bn) and Cpl Tiernan Kelly (27 Inf Bn), with the latter taking charge of the 'hostiles' and 'rioters', made up of personnel from B Coy, 27 Inf Bn. The remainder of the exercise personnel consisted of the instructors course, the three-star course, the GS public order and mounted horse units, and the Ambulance Services. The public order company comprised two DF platoons and one GS platoon, with tactical and company HQs manned by both DF and GS personnel After all personnel attended the safety brief the exer- cise began with the involvement of the mounted horse unit, and it was very impressive to see how quickly the GS and DF elements were able to combine their drills and capabilities. In the first scenario the GS were initially deployed, and as they completed their drills, the DF elements filtered through and were faced with a section-size group of hos- tiles. The scenario required the POTI students to use the drills they had learned on the course to clear the ground and move the hostiles back. As this was both physically and mentally challenging, the DF and GS platoons con- stantly rotated their positions to achieve the objective. Having achieved their first aims, the DF and GS platoons were then faced with a barricade removal. By now the three-star course and POTI course were working together like a well-oiled machine and took on the bar- ricade removal with intensity and boldness. Throughout the exercise the hostiles and rioters lived up to their names and really put the public order pla- toons through their paces. The final stage of the initial exercise scenario involved securing a crossroads while facing hostiles on three sides of the junction. After this was achieved 'End Ex' was signalled, and after a quick 30-minute turnaround the company was ready for the next scenario, which went off without a hitch. Overall, the exercise was a great display of how the dif- ferent services can work together and a good indication of their joint capabilities. With an eye to possible public order issues around hosting games in the EUFA 2020 European Championships, this was the start of what is hoped to evolve into many joint services exercise to come. 2 BTC Athlone would like to thank An Garda Síochána, the Ambulance Services, 6 Inf Bn, 27 Inf Bn, and the stu- dents and instructors of the POTI course for the parts they played in this very successful joint services exercise.

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