Soldiers were today put through their paces during intense preparations for one of the State's most dangerous missions to date.
Members of the Defence Forces 97 Infantry Battalion took part in a mission readiness exercise as part of final training ahead of their deployment to Chad.
The troops will be part of the Eufor peacekeeping operation in the troubled African state when they fly out next month.
There are close to 200 soldiers already on the ground in Chad, with a further 150 who left Dublin last night making the long journey.
The majority of those are engineers and construction workers who will set up camp at Goz Beida in south-eastern Chad for the remaining troops, who will depart on May 19th, and again on either May 27th or 28th. Commandant Gavin Young said by that stage some 450 Irish troops from the Battalion, and 50 Army Rangers, will be on the ground to participate in the peacekeeping mission.
“During the course of this week the soldiers have been put through a lot of situations that may or may not occur in Chad,” he said.
“The exercises test young soldiers of the lower level to see how they react to situations, and their commanders and see how their commands and controls are working.
“It teaches them to make the right decisions and prioritise orders that occur on the ground.
“The soldiers that have been deployed overseas before would have gone through similar exercises, but as this is the first Chad mission this is the first specific exercise for there and includes the names of villages and NGOs that will be used throughout the mission.”
Scenarios thrown at the soldiers included being flown in to protect a refugee camp that was potentially under threat when an aid convoy was ambushed.
More than four months of theory on issues like cultural awareness and rules of engagement were also put into practice.
Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea said the mission to Chad to protect refugees was an important one.
After visiting Irish Troops in Kosovo, Mr O’Dea today travelled to Vienna where he met Austrian Defence Minister, Norbert Darabos.
He said both Ireland and Austria have a great deal in common, not only as two of the militarily neutral countries within the EU, but also as two countries who are keen to fulfil our obligations on the international stage in ensuring peace, prosperity and justice in furtherance of the aims of the United Nations.
“This we are both doing in our participation in the missions in Bosnia, Kosovo and most recently in the UN mandated EU Mission to Chad,” said Mr O’Dea.
He said both ministers discussed the importance of the mission to Chad to protect refugees and internally displaced persons.
“We observed how two small, neutral EU countries (Ireland and Austria) are contributing so substantially and taking on such an important responsibility under a UN mandate,” he added.
“We also agreed that it is important to keep to the schedule and that the United Nations’ successor operation is established as planned in 2009.”
PA