An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir June 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 26 | By lT COl DAVID FOlEy, ChIEF lIAISON OFFICER TO CAIRO (lOC), UNTSO "The pursuit of 'saving the world' (peace and progress) cannot end in a few years in victory or defeat. The pursuit of saving the world, with its trials and errors, its successes and setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned." – Dag Hammarskjold The International Day of the Peacekeeper on 29th May coin- cides with the initiation of UNTSO, the first and longest running UN peacekeeping mission, which was founded on the observer group deployed to assist the mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict under UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 50 of 29th May 1948. This was a fortnight after Britain relinquished its mandate over Palestine, the state of Israel was proclaimed, and hostilities had commenced with Arab states. UNTSO was formally estab- lished to support the parties' implementation of the Armistice Agreements under UNSCR 73 (1949). Following the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973, and numerous inter- state and intra-state conflicts in the region since, the functions of the observers changed with the changed circumstances, but they remained in the area, acting as go-betweens for hostile parties and as the means by which isolated incidents could be contained and prevented from escalating into major conflicts. It must be remembered that 51 UNTSO personnel have lost their lives in the cause of peace, including Comdt Thomas Wickham (7th June 1967) and Comdt Michael Nestor (25th September 1982). UNTSO military observers will remain in the Middle East until a regional settlement is achieved. The mission's regional mandate is unique, covering the five parties to the Armistice Agreements, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Syrian Arab Republic, and UNTSO activities are spread over these five states. Its two core functions today are maintaining the regional liaison architecture and also, with two groups of UNTSO military observers serving under UNDOF in Syria and the Israeli-Occupied Golan, and under UNIFIL in Lebanon, assisting those missions in mandate implementation. UNTSO also maintains liaison offices in Beirut, Damascus, Jerusalem (also covering Tel Aviv and Jordan), and Ismailia (covering Cairo and also conducting liaison in the southern Sinai). All 152 UNTSO military observers, drawn from 25 countries, are unarmed and, given the gravity of the job in hand, all are experi- enced officers. Notwithstanding the fact that the breadth and depth of previ- ous overseas experience is an influencing factor in the selection of the Irish officers there is a considerable amount of additional training necessary. The pre-deployment and in-mission training is designed to best prepare and qualify those officers for the diverse range of roles in an environment that demands self-sufficiency and the capability to operate independently, if required, while also being able to work as an integral member of a multi-tasking, multinational team. The training cycle commences in Ireland with the mandatory requirement to complete the three-week Overseas Qualification Course. All officers must also deploy with a licence to drive an armoured jeep, which involves many additional weeks of training. (UNTso) F or the 12 Irish officers proudly serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) today there is great resonance in this quote from Dag hammarskjold who was UN Secretary general when the first Irish peacekeepers deployed as a team of five officers to United Nations Observer group in lebanon (UNOgIl) 60 years ago on 28th June 1958. When the UNOgIl mission ended that December two of those officers, Col Justin McCarthy and Comdt Desmond Jordan (an Air Corps officer) were headhunted by UNTSO and they became the first Irish officers to serve with the mission. Ireland has since maintained an unbroken commitment to UNTSO, which remains the longest overseas mission for the Defence Forces and the United Nations.

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