An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 27 nocent looking individual out taking photographs and looking around the pier. The start of day two seen a quick debrief of each teams OP, this gave them a chance to view each other and for each team to explain what materials they had chosen to build their hide and the routine they had carried out over the course of the night and why. After the debriefs, there was a quick break for teams to sort their equipment then it was into a testing phase of stands, each one was different so the detach- ments could be rotated through them as they were tested. The stands consisted of signals, key leader engagement (KLE), observation (finding and judging dis- tance), medical and FIBUA. That afternoon a new tasking was given that moved away from the urban phase to a more traditional field phase. A change of location to the mountains of the Wicklow area where the detachments would spend the rest of the concentration. This phase would test the detachments in more conventional recce skills and would test them physically. Following on from the EU Mission scenario, an Orders Group (O Gp) was called and the detachments were given a named area of interest (NAI), in the Wicklow Mountains area. The detach- ments task from the O Gp was to recce the NAI. When completed, the gath- ered information would be used by the Coy Comdr to determine their COA. The NAI was located 15Km away from the drop off point, the hike across the Wicklow Mountains was broken up by a number of stands that tested the detachments in various skills including survival and another KLE with a different scenario. To test the detachments physical capabilities, ammo runs and casevac drills put them through their paces across the tough terrain. That evening the detachments took up their OP position around the NAI to report, sketch and range the area over a period of 18-24 hrs, when they would finally withdraw from the area. This tasking was heavily marked with all Directing Staff (DS) having strict guidelines so to keep the scoring fair. On the evening of day three the detachments were given a rest and prep period for the following day. On day four it was another round of stands, these consisted of LFTT and stress shoots, along with AFV recognition and TGP LIVE. These were some of the more enjoyable stands, with the teams getting a chance to call in mortar fire and adjust its fire on target, which would have been a new experience for most detachments. Completion of these stands marked the end to a successful concentration that challenged and verified the skills of the recce detachments. We spoke with Comdt Kenneth O'Rourke OIC IWW, DFTC, about the week, "It was a very ambitious week for us with very dynamic exercises. In order to make the scenario as challenging as possible for the participants, we had to push our staff out of their comfort zones, this produced the most realistic event. The event itself focuses on developing the recce community, in order to build tangible recce detach- ments. Overall the standard was good, with some very impressive performances from some of the teams." Going forward from here his message was, "We will continue to run challenging and rewarding competitions. Later this year we will submit a draft training instruc- tion to badge test recce skills in the DF." Vox Pops Capt dom Jerram royal, 1 bn irish guards ba "This is my first time in a recce competition overseas and it is going really well. There was a bit of ambiguity among us about what we would be facing when we got here. It's interesting to see the different tasking's we have been given. I'm surprised with the heavy emphasis of leadership, but it's going well. Our doctrine is very similar to yours, which is good. The ground we have been working in is very dif- ferent from our own training grounds, with its mixed terrain; it changes from forest to clearings and then to marsh quickly. Adapting to this ter- rain has been very challenging. The KLE was the most interesting part for myself." Cpl sean Fleming, 3 inf bn "This is my first recce competition and my detachment are enjoying it. Working in the urban environment has been interesting, so has calling in artillery fire, which we have never done before. The week has been physically demanding and intensive, but it has been enjoyable too. We have a good team and we are pulling together." Cpl ritchie Carroll, iww dFTC "I am a DS on the recce concentration for the first time, but I have competed in recce com- petitions before as part of a detachment. It is a really good concentra- tion this year especially with the urban phase, as its something new. The most challenging part for the detachments is the new challenges like calling in mortar fire, as the teams are not really trained specifically for it. The level of the teams is really good this year and I'm impressed by the overall event."

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