Irish Army
| Irish Army |
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The Irish Army (Irish: Arm na hÉireann) is the main branch of the Irish Defence Forces (Óglaigh na hÉireann). It was first formed in 1922 after the implementation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the subsequent foundation of the Irish Free State. It was originally formed from the pro-Treaty elements of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and its first task was to defend the new Free State from the anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War.
Roles of the Irish Army
The roles of the Irish Army as decided by the Irish Government are:
- To defend the State against armed aggression.
- To give aid to the civil power (ATCP).
- This means that the Irish Army will assist, when requested, the Garda Síochána, who have primary responsibility for law and order in Ireland.
- To participate in multinational peace support, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations in support of the United Nations.
- To carry out other duties which may be assigned to them from time to time.
- Assistance on the occasion of natural disasters, assistance in connection with the maintenance of essential services etc.
History
The beginning of the Irish Army
The Irish Army was set up in January 1922 as the official Army of the new Irish Free State government under Michael Collins.
Initially it was expected that the Irish Republican Army - a guerrilla force that had fought the British in the Irish War of Independence (1919-21) - would fulfil this function. However, the bulk of the IRA were opposed to the Treaty that set up the Free State, believing that it compromised the Irish Republic which had been unilaterally declared in 1919. As a result, the new Free State authorities had to form a new force to put down Republican resistance in the Irish Civil War (1922-23).
The Civil War Period
In the early weeks of the Irish Civil War, the newly formed Irish Army, or "National Army", as it was called, was composed of pro-Treaty IRA units, especially the "Dublin Guard", whose members had personal ties to Michael Collins.
Its size was estimated at about 7000 men. However, the Free State soon recruited far more troops, the army's size mushrooming to 55,000 men and 3500 officers by the end of the Civil War in May 1923. Many of its recruits were war-hardened Irishmen who had served in the former regiments of the 10th (Irish) Division and 16th (Irish) Division of the New British Army in the First World War. Six Irish regiments territorially associated with the new state, included The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Connaught Rangers were all disbanded in July 1922 under the terms of the Treaty. Indeed, the Free State recruited experienced soldiers from wherever it could. Two of its senior generals in the Civil War had served in the United States Army - John T. Prout and "Ginger" O'Connell.
The British government supplied the new army with uniforms, small arms, ammunition, artillery and armoured units, which enabled it to bring the Civil War to a relatively speedy conclusion. Dublin was taken from Anti Treaty IRA units (or "Irregulars") after a week and a half of street fighting in July 1922. The Irregulars were also dislodged from Limerick and Waterford in that month and Cork and county Kerry were secured after seaborne landings in August. The remainder of the war was a counter-insurgency campaign against Anti-Treaty guerrillas. Irish Army units, especially the Dublin Guard, were implicated in a series of atrocities against captured Anti-Treaty fighters. The National Army suffered about 800 fatalities in the Civil War, including its commander in chief, Michael Collins. Collins was succeeded by Richard Mulcahy.
After the Civil War
Following the Irish Civil War, the Irish Army had grown too big for a peacetime role and was too expensive for the new Irish state to maintain. In addition, many of the civil war recruits were badly trained and undisciplined -making them unsuitable material for a full time professional army.
Richard Mulcahy, the new Irish Defence Minister, had to reduce the army to about 20,000 men in the immediate post Civil War period. This nearly provoked a mutiny among Irish Army officers in 1923-24, particularly among former IRA officers, who perceived that former British Army officers were treated better than them. The "mutiny" petered out however and the Irish Army has never since challenged the civil power in Ireland.
The Emergency Period
Ireland remained neutral for the Second World War, which was referred to as "The Emergency" by the Irish government.
However despite the Irish neutral stance the Irish Army was greatly expanded during the war. In fact the Irish Army grew from about 10,000 men up to about 40,000 by the end of the war (with more recruited to reserve forces). By early 1941, this comprised an all-volunteer force of two infantry divisions and two independent brigade, as well as coastal artillery and garrison units. This expansion was enforced in order to ward off potential invasions from either the Allied or Axis powers (Both of whom had actually drawn up contingency plans to invade the island of Ireland).
In 1939, the remnants of the IRA stole a large quantity of the Irish Army's reserve ammunition from its dump at the Magazine Fort in Dublin's Phoenix Park. While this was seen as an embarrassment for the Irish Army, most of it was recovered.
Moreover, as the War went on, more and newer equipment was purchased from Britain and the United States. For the duration of the war, Ireland, while formally neutral, tacitly supported the Allies in several ways. IRA men were interned in the Curragh along with the belligerent powers' servicemen, whereas Allied airmen and sailors who crashed in Ireland were very often repatriated, usually by secretly moving them across the border to Northern Ireland.
United Nations Missions
Since 1945, the Irish Army has been deployed on many peacekeeping missions for the United Nations. A total of 86 Irish soldiers have died in the service of the United Nations since 1960.
Congo
The first of these missions took place in 1958, when a small number of observers were sent to Lebanon. However, the first major overseas deployment came in 1960, when Irish troops were sent to the Congo as part of the UN force ONUC. The Belgian Congo became an independent Republic on 30 June 1960. Twelve days later, the Congolese government requested military assistance from the United Nations to maintain its territorial integrity. On the 28th July 1960 Lt-Col. Murt Buckley led the men of the 32nd Irish Battalion to the newly independent central African country. This was the most costly enterprise for the Irish Army since the Irish Civil War, as 26 Irish soldiers lost their lives (9 died in one action, the Niemba ambush). One of the largest engagements Irish troops were involved in was the Siege of Jadotville, in which a small party of 150 Irish soldiers was attacked by a much larger force of Katangese troops. The Irish fought back ferociously until their ammunition ran out, they took no casualties and inflicted heavy ones on their attackers. A total of 6,000 Irishmen served in the Congo from 1960 until 1964.
Cyprus and the Sinai
Starting in 1964, Irish troops have served as UN peacekeepers in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Over 9,000 Irish personnel have served there to date, without suffering casualties.
In 1973, an infantry group and some logistical troops were pulled out of Cyprus at short notice to serve in the Sinai desert between Egypt and Israel as part of the UN force that supervised the ceasefire that ended the Yom Kippur War.
From 1976 to 1981, UNFICYP was commanded by an Irish officer, Major-General James Quinn.
Lebanon
From 1978 to 2001, a battalion of Irish troops was deployed in southern Lebanon, as part of the UN mandate force UNIFIL. The Irish battalion consisted of 580 personnel which were rotated every six months, plus almost 100 others in UNIFIL headquarters and the Force Mobile Reserve. In all, 30,000 Irish soldiers served in Lebanon over 23 years.
The Irish troops in Lebanon were initially intended to supervise the withdrawal of the Israeli Defence Forces from the area after an invasion in 1978 and to prevent fighting between the Palestinian Liberation Organisation forces and those of Israel. Another Israeli invasion in 1982 forced the PLO out of southern Lebanon, and occupied the area. The following 18 years, up until 2000 saw prolonged guerrilla warfare between Israeli forces, their allies in the South Lebanon Army and Hezbollah. The Irish battalion, caught in the middle of the conflict, lost 47 soldiers killed and more wounded in the mission. Their role consisted of manning checkpoints and observations posts and mounting patrols. In addition to peacekeeping the Irish also provided humanitarian aid to the local population -for example aiding the orphanage at Tibnin. From 25 April 1995 to 9 May 1996, Brigadier General P. Redmond served as Deputy Force Commander of UNIFIL - a period that coincided with the Israeli Operation Grapes of Wrath offensive in 1996.
Most of the Irish force was withdrawn from the area in 2001, following the Israeli evacuation of their forces the previous year. However 11 Irish troops remained there as observers. They were present during the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese war. After this conflict UNIFIL was reinforced and a mechanised infantry company of 165 Irish troops was deployed to southern Lebanon as of October 2006. Their role there is to protect a Finnish engineering unit.
Iran/Iraq border
From August 1988 until May 1991, Irish soldiers were deployed, under the UN force UNIIMOG, on the border between Iraq and Iran to supervise the withdrawal of both side's troops back to within their respective borders after the end of the Iran-Iraq War. The total strength of the mission was 400, of which the Irish provided 177. The mission came to and end in 1991, when Iran and Iraq completed the withdrawal of their troops. A small number of Irish observers have also been stationed in Kuwait since April 1991 as part of UNIKOM.
The 1990s
Since the 1990s UN missions have proliferated for Irish troops. In 1993, 100 troops forming a transport company were deployed in Somalia, as part of UNOSOM II peace-enforcing mission. In December 2001, 221 Irish soldiers were sent to Eritrea as part of UNMEE, and were tasked with the defence of the UN headquarters there. Since 1996 a military police unit and some other troops have been stationed in Bosnia as part of SFOR (1995-2005) and EUFOR (December 2005 to present). From 1999 until the present Irish troops have been stationed in Kosovo as part of KFOR. Currently there are 208 Irish soldiers, part of an infantry group, there.
East Timor
Also in 1999, Irish troops were sent to East Timor as part of the UNAMET observer group. Later in the year, a larger number of Irish transport and logistical troops were sent as part of INTERFET peacekeeping force. The Irish Army Rangers (the Army's special forces unit) were deployed in East Timor alongside the Australian SAS as part of UNTAET in 2000. This marked the second time that the Irish Army's elite force were officially deployed operationally outside of the state, the first being to Somalia in 1993. A total of 44 Irish soldiers remain in East Timor at present.
Liberia
Most recently, since November 2003, Irish troops have been stationed in Liberia as part of UNMIL. The Liberian mission is the largest Irish overseas deployment since Lebanon and consists of a single composite battalion. The UN force, UNMIL, is 15,000 strong and is charged with stabilising the country after the Liberian Civil War. The Irish troops are based in Camp Clara, near Monrovia and are tasked with acting as the Force Commander's "Quick Reaction Force" (QRF) in the Monrovia area. This means the securing of key locations, conducting searches for illegally held weapons, patrolling and manning checkpoints on the main roads and providing security to civilians under threat of violence. The Irish deployment to Liberia was due to end in November 2006. However, at that time the deployment was extended for a further 6 months to May 2007 [1].
- 90th Infantry Battalion (4 Western Brigade) - Nov 03-May 04
- 91st Infantry Battalion (2 Eastern Brigade) - May 04-Nov 04
- 92nd Infantry Battalion (1 Southern Brigade) - Nov 04-May 05
- 93rd Infantry Battalion (4 Western Brigade) - May 05-Nov 05
- 94th Infantry Battalion (2 Eastern Brigade) - Nov 05-May 06
- 95th Infantry Battalion (1 Southern Brigade) - May 06-Nov 06
- 96th Infantry Battalion (4 Western Brigade) - Nov 06-May 07
Border duties 1969-present
At home, the Army has been occasionally deployed as a back up to the Gardaí (Irish Police) along the border with Northern Ireland during the civil conflict in the north known as the Troubles (1969-1998). In the early 1970s, it was suggested that the Irish Army might cross the Border to protect the nationalist community within Northern Ireland. However this was never acted upon, although units were moved to the Border in 1969-70, in readiness for such a step. In addition, a captain in the army, James Kelly was sent to buy arms for Republican paramilitaries for the defence of nationalist areas in the North. When this emerged in public, it caused a scandal known as the Arms crisis. Kelly, however always maintained that he was only acting under orders from senior politicians.
The Army's most consistent role has been to try and impede the movement of Provisional IRA members across the border during its armed campaign. One Irish Army soldier was killed during the Troubles by the PIRA. This happened on December 16, 1983, when the PIRA kidnapped a supermarket executive named Don Tidey. He was traced to Ballinamore in county Leitrim and in the subsequent shootout, a trainee garda and an Irish soldier were killed. Recently, in 2006, the Army has been used to back up the Gardaí in arresting and seizing the assets of smugglers along the border, many of whom have links with Republican paramilitaries.
Current Deployments
- Kosovo (KFOR) - 33rd Infantry Group
- Bosnia (EUFOR) - MNTF (Finland)
- Liberia (UNMIL) - 96th Infantry Battalion
- Lebanon (UNIFIL) - 34th Infantry Group
Irish Army Officers are currently serving in Liberia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sudan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Western Sahara, Congo, Croatia, Montenegro, Afghanistan and the Ivory Coast.
Training
All enlisted members of the PDF undergo 16 weeks of basic training, after which they become a Private 2 Star. They then undergo a further 8 weeks of advanced training with their corps, after which they are upgraded to Private 3 Star.
Composition
The regular army of Ireland has 10,500 personnel (plus a reserve army of 13,000), and consists of a single division sized element made up of three infantry brigades, each responsible for a geographical area of the country:
1 Southern Brigade
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2 Eastern Brigade
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4 Western Brigade
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Defence Forces Training Centre
In addition to the three brigades in the Irish Army, there is also the Defence Forces Training Centre (DFTC). This element is responsible for providing professional training to the Irish Army through three separate colleges:
- Military College
- Combat Support College (Cavalry/Engineering/Signal Schools)
- Combat Service Support College (Transport/Ordnance/Military Police/Medical/Admin/Catering (in Dublin) & Physical Fitness Schools)
There are also several units located at the DFTC that are not part of the brigade structure:
- Operational Units
- Army Ranger Wing (Sciathán Fianóglach an Airm)
- 1st Air Defence Regiment (AD)
- 1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron
- B Company, 3rd Infantry Battalion
- Support Units
- Supply and Services Unit
- Defence Force Logistics Base
- DFTC Military Police Company
Army Corps
Infantry Corps
The Infantry corps represent the largest component and are the operational troops of the Irish Army.
Artillery Corps
The Artillery Corps provides fire support as required by infantry or armoured elements. The Corps was founded in 1924 and today consists of two main branches: Field Artillery and Air Defence. Between them, the two branches of the Corps provide several vital services;
- Fire support of Infantry or Armoured troops.
- Ground to low level air defence.
- Light field battery support to Irish overseas battalion.
- Aid to the civil power duties.
Each brigade has a single field artillery regiment, while the army's single air defence regiment is stationed at the Defence Force Training Centre.
Cavalry Corps
The Cavalry Corps is the army's armoured formation.
Engineers Corps
| Engineer Corps | |
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| File:Engineer Crest1.jpg | |
| Country | Republic of Ireland |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Combat Engineering |
The Engineer Corps (or An Corps Innealtoiri in Irish) is the combat engineering unit of the Irish Defence Forces. The Engineers Corps is responsible for all combat engineering and general engineering matters within the Defence Forces.The main role of the Combat Engineers is to provide engineering on the battlefield. Combat Engineering is engineering at the sharp end - the skill, expertise and determination of the Engineers has been at the heart of most of the Army's achievements in UN operations.
History
Following the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922 General Routine Orders were issued which laid down the organisation of the first centralised Defence Forces. From an engineering point of view there were three particular problem areas to be overcome:-
- The Barracks and Posts throughout the state were in great need of repair following the War of Independence and the Civil War.
- There was a general shortage of materials.
- Most of the railway system was in disarray with many towns cut off.
To meet these requirements three (3) Corps were set up:
- The Works Corps - to carry out repairs and reconstruction.
- The Salvage Corps - to recover materials from damaged buildings for use elsewhere.
- The Railway Protection, Repair and Maintenance Corps - to rebuild the railway system.
The Corps of Engineers was established and took over from these three Corps with effect from 1 Oct 1924. In 1931 Field Engineer Companies and the School of Military Engineering were added to the establishment.
Roles
The Engineer Corps has a wide variety of roles, covering conventional warfare, Counter-terrorism warfare and training for the Defence Forces. With such a wide range of skills, the Engineer Corps provide a variety of support to the Army. This support includes anything from the provision of:
- Counter Terrorist Search Operations
- Explosive Ordnance Disposal: Battlefield Area Clearance, Route Clearance, Boobytrap Clearance, Demining.
- Demolitions
- Camp Construction: Camp Clara (Monrovia, Liberia), Camp Clark (Kosovo)
- Fire Fighting & RTA services.
- Military Bridging.
Missions
The Engineer Corps have seen active service in Liberia, Kosovo, Somalia, Congo and Lebanon.
Liberia
The Engineer Corps was deployed in Liberia following the Second Liberian Civil War in advance of a contingent of more than 400 troops to construct Camp Clara.
Equipment
- Aardvark Midi-Flail
- Doking MV-4 Remotely Operated Mini-Flail
- Cyclops Mk4 Remotely Operated Vehicle
- Remote Firing Demolitions Equipment(BIRIS, PRIME, DRFD)
- Maybe Johnson Bridge
- Infantry Assualt Bridge
- FFV 013 Area Defence Munition
- Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RIBs) (Delta 7 metre, Lencraft 5.1 metre dive, and Lencraft 7.5&6.5 metre intruder RIBs) (See: image)
Future Developments
As in all aspects of society, legislative changes and technological advances have required workforces to become more specialised and more highly skilled. The Irish Defence Forces is no exception. There is now a greater need than heretofore for specialist and highly qualified and skilled Engineers. Compared with other Defence Forces in other countries e.g. British and French Armies, the number of engineers in the Irish Defence Forces is low, 5.5% against 8.8% and 12.8% respectively. In these circumstances, the Engineer Corps can be proud of its achievements to date.
Gallery
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Glen of Imaal
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Demolition using Harick Shape Charges
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Aardvark Joint Service Flail detonating an Anti-Tank Landmine
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Doking MV-4 ROV detonating an Anti-Personnel Landmine
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Constructing a Rubb Hall -
Installing Lighting Towers -
Route Clearance Operation
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Fire Service DFTC
External links
Transport Corps
The Transport Corps is responsible for the procurement, management and maintenance of all soft skinned vehicles, and the maintenance of all armoured vehicles within the Defence Forces. It is also responsible for the driver training, testing, certification, maintenance of driving standards and provision of vehicle fuels, oils and lubricants. The Transport Corps provides heavy lift capability for the Defence Forces.
Medical Corps
The Army Medical Corps has the responsibility of maintaining health and preventing disease in the Defence Forces and providing treatment of its sick and wounded. While these functions are of prime importance in time of war they also continue in peacetime. The Corps provides Dental as well as medical care for all personnel. The service provided includes surgery, physiotherapy and nursing. Their personnel have served in all the major UN missions providing medical and dental support. They also fill an important role in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the local civilian population giving medical aid in circumstances in which local medical services are unlikely to function adequately.
Military Police Corps
The Military Police are responsible for the prevention and investigation of offences, the enforcement of discipline and the general policing of the Defence Forces. In wartime, additional tasks include the provision of a traffic control organisation to allow rapid movement of military formations to their mission areas. Other wartime rules include control of prisoners of war and refugees. Traditionally, the Military Police have also had a considerable involvement at state and ceremonial occasions. In recent years the Military Police have been deployed in many UN missions (e.g. Iran /Iraq) and later in the former Yugoslavia (SFOR). They enjoy a very close working relationship with An Garda Síochána at national and local levels. The Gardaí assist in providing specialist police training to the Military Police in the field of crime investigation.
Communications
The CIS corps is a support corps responsible for installing, maintaining and operating telecommunications equipment and information systems.
Rank Structure
The rank structure of the Irish Army is organised along standard military rank and command structures. These consist of the following ranks:
Other Ranks
- Cadet
- Apprentice
- Recruit
- 2* Private
- 3* Private
- Corporal
- Sergeant
- Company/Battery Quartermaster Sergeant
- Company/Battery Sergeant
- Battalion/Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant
- Battalion/Regimental Sergeant Major
Commissioned Ranks
- Second Lieutenant
- Lieutenant
- Captain
- Commandant
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
- Brigadier General
- Major General
- Lieutenant General
Note: As there are only Infantry Brigades the number of senior officers in the Irish Army is small.
Weapons
The Irish Army has historically purchased and used Weapons and equipment from other western countries, mainly from European nations and especially from Britain. Generally all equipment is of NATO standard design, Ireland usually doesn't produce its own armaments and has a very limited arms industry (almost non-existent).
In the beginning the Army used the British Lee-Enfield Rifle, which would be the mainstay for many decades after independence. In the 1960s some modernisation came with the introduction of the Belgian-made FN FAL 7.62 mm assault rifle.
Currently the standard weapon for an Irish Army soldier is the Austrian made Steyr AUG 5.56 mm assault rifle (also used in the other branches of the Defence force). The Steyr began to replace the older FAL in 1988, although some of the Reserve forces continued to use the FAL until 2002.
Other weapons in use by the Irish Army are the FN MAG, known as the General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), the FGM-148 Javelin Anti-tank guided missile (replacing the MILAN).
Vehicles
The Irish Army has historically preferred Light vehicles to the heavy Armour types used by other European nations, and this preference continues today. The most recent purchase was of a large number of the Swiss made Mowag Piranha Armoured fighting vehicles which have become the Army's primary vehicle in the Mechanised infantry role. These are equipped with 12.7 mm HMGs, but recently the army has ordered an additional number of Piranhas with a mix of weapons systems, made up of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace remote weapon station with a 12.7mm heavy machinegun-equipped vehicles and Oto Melara 30mm cannon equipped vehicles.
The Irish Army's only tank type is the British-made FV101 Scorpion light tank, with a 76.2 mm main gun. Other vehicles include the Panhard AML (with 90 mm gun).
See also
- Modern weapons of the Irish Army
- Modern vehicles of the Irish Army
- Modern Irish Army Uniform
- Irish Defence Forces cap badge
- Irish Defence Forces
- Reserve Defence Forces
- Communications and Information Services Corps
- Irish Army deafness claims
External links
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