An Cosantóir

war horses "When I was serving in Liberia," Capt Murphy explained, "I noticed that patrolling during the wet season was particularly difficult for the Mowags and combat service support. There were often times when villages couldn't be reached, which meant that our patrols were not visible throughout our whole AO and our intelligence gathering capacity was also reduced. The dry season also presented its own problems at times with the Mowags and soft-skinned vehicles finding it difficult to traverse the full road networks. Motorcycles offer the capability to fill these gaps. "In the area of scouting/reconnaissance, motorcycles are excellent for scouting forward along a road or track at speed, while checking the condition of the route and assessing its capacity to take the weights and widths of service vehicles such as Mowags or to find out if bridges are intact and capable of taking heavy vehicles. Alternatively they can increase navigation efficiency by scouting ahead of convoys in order to pick the best routes and prevent scenarios where vehicles would go down a road or track that would prove to be non-navigable and where it might be difficult to turn around. "They can also provide increased force visibility. In areas where AFVs and APC are unable to gain access due to the terrain or weather conditions, motorcycles and | 15 quad-bikes can ensure that a force maintains a visible and deterrent presence. "The excellent mobility offered by motorcycles ensure that the gathering of PIRs would be possible from even the remotest, hard-to-access areas, while also providing an excellent means of communication if technical comms break down or if sensitive info/intel needs to be delivered from mouth to ear. "In addition, because of their light weight and manoeuvrability in all terrains motorcycles are the ideal vehicle to avoid injury by mines and IEDs. Firstly, it is easier for motorcycles to stay off the most commonly travelled roads, which reduces the likelihood of encountering mines and IEDs. Secondly, their light weight means they are far less likely to activate pressureactivated anti-tank mines. "Modern military motorcycles can carry out all these tasks across all terrains over long distances and in all types of weather. "Recent years have seen the utilisation of quad-bikes in theatres of conflict, particularly the ongoing war in Afghanistan where quads have been used for numerous tasks, including casevac, and patrolling in areas with a high risk from mines and IEDs. "From a military perspective, motorcycles can provide commanders with a tool that allows them gain access into areas that before may have only been accessible on foot and that allows recce and information gathering troops to conduct a wide range of operations in a more expedient and efficient manner." Capt Murphy's overall view on motorcycles in today's military is that they can prove indispensable in both conventional and peacekeeping operations, particularly where there is no clearcut line dividing opposing forces. "When the road ends, the motorcycle will keep going," Capt Murphy says as we finish our interview. "Accessibility and versatility have been the key words associated with the role of military motorcycles since their integration into the world military organisations." www.military.ie the defence forces magazine

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