An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 21 This course is designed to qualify personnel to operate the LTAV in a tactical environment both at home and over- seas. Ran out of the LTAV School of Excellence in B Coy 6 Inf Bn, the objectives of this course are; to qualify person- nel to drive the RG32M in all weather conditions, at day and night, to operate the vehicle in CBRN environment, to conduct driver maintenance, to safely conduct recovery operations on the vehicle, and to be confident employing the vehicle in a tactical environment. The students also fire the MAG58 and 66mm Smoke Discharger system dur- ing their qualification shoot. Week one of the ODC course consisted of classroom based lectures on vehicle systems, and initial basic driver training. Week two mainly consisted of extended periods of student driving both in urban and rural areas, supple- mented by practical lessons on vehicle recovery and maintenance. Weeks three and four are assessment weeks, with on and off road testing taking place during week 3. Facilitated and tested by Cavalry School DFTC, all students were put through their paces on the off-road course in Coolmooney Camp, followed by a road test in DFTC. The students also completed an initial night drive in Carnagh training area utilizing NVE, and incorporating a recovery exercise. This exercise is the pre-cursor to the more difficult night drive on exercise in Slieve Bloom Mountains in the final week. The course culminates in Week 4 with a Quali- fication Shoot on MAG58M and 66mm Smoke Discharge system, followed by driving exercise to, and around the Slieve Bloom Mountains. This exercise tests the students' navigation skills, and they are also assessed on recovery, wheel change, tactical movement and driving using NVE over challenging terrain. This element of the course is designed to take the students out of their comfort zone and into a driving situation that is very challenging. Driv- ing with no lights over a distance of narrow forest tracks utilizing NVE is the culmination of the students driving assessment. B Coy 6 Inf Bn would like to thank all external instructors who assist in the running of these courses, and Cavalry School for their continued support. Key Inf VarIant LtaV StatS: WEIGHT: 9,000KG LENGTH: 6.006 M FORDING: 0.8 M TURNING CIRCLE: 17 M FIREPOWER: MAG58M & 66MM SMOKE DISCHARGER COMMS SySTEMS: SINCGAR (x2) MOTOROLA ROVIS

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