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  • GOCAC Retires.

    From AC Facebook.
    This afternoon Brigadier General Paul Fry performed his final Annual Inspection after 43 years of exemplary service to the Irish Defence Forces.
    Brigadier General Paul Fry joined the Defence Forces in 1974 with the 51st Officer Cadetship Class. He received his Presidential Commission and Pilot’s Wings 1976 with the 9th Regular Air Corps Cadet Class.
    His career has spanned a wide range of operational, training and staff roles including among others; the Air Corps’ Chief Flying Instructor, OC Heli School, Staff Officer with the UN Mission in Western Sahara, OC the Flying Training School, Chief of Air Staff Operations and finally General Officer Commanding the Air Corps and Director of Military Aviation.
    Throughout his service Brigadier General Fry has shaped generations of pilots, airmen and airwomen throughout their careers.
    Thank You and Blue Skies Sir....
    For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

  • #2
    Well done on 43 yrs service & best of luck in your future endeavours

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    • #3
      Tasty pilot. Well regarded for his flying on the Marchetti and Gazelle.

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      • #4
        Wasn't he one of the first Dauphin Pilots also? I definitely remember him at one of the big airshows in the 80s.
        For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

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        • #5
          Col Séan Clancy is the new GOC

          Former HFI and SAR pilot
          Sqn OC 3 Sqn
          Wing Comdr 3 Ops Wing
          SSO Ops
          Chief of Air Staff Support
          OIC SPO DFHQ

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          • #6
            Colonel Seán Clancy will take up the role of General Officer Commanding the Air Corps and Director of Military Aviation from the 30th of June 2017 when he will be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.
            Colonel Seán Clancy joined the Defence Forces as a Cadet in 1984 and completed his Pilot’s Wings Course in 1987. Colonel Clancy is a former helicopter flying instructor and Search and Rescue pilot. He has served as a Squadron Commander in 301 Squadron, Officer Commanding No.3 Operations Wing, Senior Staff Officer Operations and Chief of Air Staff Support in Air Corps Headquarters. In recent years he has served as Officer in Charge of the Defence Forces’ Strategic Planning Branch.
            Colonel Clancy has served overseas in EUFOR (Sarajevo). He holds a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin and a MA in Leadership, Management and Defence Studies from Maynooth University
            I am shocked that the new GOCAC only signed up 4 years before I first enlisted. Back then all Generals were Grey old men. Could I be right in saying first GoC from rotary wing? In the past they have always come from Fixed wing, be it Govt Jet, or Light Strike Sqn.
            Best of luck to him in his new role during what may be a challenging period in the Air Corps.
            For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

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            • #7
              Ok so.I was trying to figure out which way this guy might lean.

              OC No3: Good for developing rotary wing.Overseas maybe at some stage?
              Former SAR: Not so good .Stuck in the '80's?? SAR SAR and nothing but SAR.
              Time will tell I guess.
              GTTC any thoughts?
              "Let us be clear about three facts. First, all battles and all wars are won in the end by the infantryman. Secondly, the infantryman always bears the brunt. His casualties are heavier, he suffers greater extremes of discomfort and fatigue than the other arms. Thirdly, the art of the infantryman is less stereotyped and far harder to acquire in modern war than that of any other arm." ------- Field Marshall Wavell, April 1945.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by na grohmití View Post
                I am shocked that the new GOCAC only signed up 4 years before I first enlisted. Back then all Generals were Grey old men. Could I be right in saying first GoC from rotary wing? In the past they have always come from Fixed wing, be it Govt Jet, or Light Strike Sqn.
                Best of luck to him in his new role during what may be a challenging period in the Air Corps.
                33 years service done all the same...
                "Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"

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                • #9
                  .... also noticed the photo on FB was in a Lt Col uniform (three bars)
                  "Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Truck Driver View Post
                    .... also noticed the photo on FB was in a Lt Col uniform (three bars)
                    Like nobody else has ever put a younger better looking photo on Facebook....
                    'He died who loved to live,' they'll say,
                    'Unselfishly so we might have today!'
                    Like hell! He fought because he had to fight;
                    He died that's all. It was his unlucky night.
                    http://www.salamanderoasis.org/poems...nnis/luck.html

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                    • #11
                      Best of luck to Col Clancy on his appointment. Not sure myself I'm in much of a position to evaluate what way he'll take the Air Corps, but for the moment we're lined up for

                      * A new control tower complex at Bal
                      * An airspace surveillance capability (via either binoculars, or radar)
                      * Overseas operations, either in a training or operational capacity. (We've already undertaken these anyway - Libyan evacuation, CASA resupplies to Lebannon (I know, with a limited payload to that of a Herc / KC390 ), AW139 training team to Malta, airfield support team in Chad. Multi-facted, combined air packages might be a while off.

                      For equipment upgrades, we should be seeing - Replacement PC9 to be delivered, FWUA (looking like the PC12 is the only game in town), and C295 (most likely) to replace the current C235.

                      I don't think anyone will be making changes to these upgrades, regardless of being a heli pilot or other. Regarding Col Clancy's heli training and SAR background, 301 Sqn (AW139) and 3 Ops Wing have been military operations oriented since SAR was civilianised in the mid-2000's. (Excluding EAS and air ambulance duties.) My view would be that he has a good view of what is required to maintain and enhance those military heli ops in the service, but I think it's a very safe bet that rotary wing long range SAR is not something that will be a critical focus.

                      Before even considering what policies and ideas of his own he may wish to see from the start of his tenure as GOC, if Col Clancy remains in his post as long as Brig Gen Fry, he'll have the policies of at least 2 governments + 2 or 3 of the 2015 White Paper 3-yearly reviews to go through. There is a lot to work with there, and as we have seen since 2000, the global security, economic, climate and migration environment have completely changed. Based on these factors, I belive enhancements to Air Corps capabilities are going to be made in the coming years to meet these; exactly where I'm not sure. But provided a little bit support is given by the government, a leeway is given by the DoD and the purse strings are loosened a bit, it wouldn't take a lot for the service to develop and deliver in quantums of it's current capability. (This goes for the other two services too.)

                      My apologies for any waffling here, it's getting late, and this post has taken the guts of too long to write lol. Hopefully there'll be a Connect or An Cosantoir message from the new GOC outlining his plans for the future, which I'll read with interest. In the meantime, like Apod in post #7 above, I'd be interested in what GTTC, Claudel, Heligun or any Air Corps bods (or Army or NS people) who've met or worked with Col Clancy make of the man.

                      * From what I've read and seen in White Paper and meej-ia

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                      • #12
                        I think he is destined for higher than GOC AC. I believe his time as GOC will be short and he will be DCOS within 12-18 months.

                        Given his prior service in SPB (he was the first non army Col appointed to position, much to the annoyance of the army). I suspect he is an 'academic' much the same way as the current COS is. I can forsee an increase in duties related to academic based projects and statistics.

                        One thing is for sure. Its generally a given that if you want promotion the best way is to not cause problems and don't rock the boat.

                        I can't see the boat being rocked too much.

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                        • #13
                          New GOC new thinking... Hopefully

                          Maybe its time to stop discussing Cessna replacement, Casa Replacement, PC-9 replacement and maybe do a Proper Re-Org.

                          Its more then a decade since the last Re-Org of the AC, with the possibility of capital expenditure, I think its time to do a full ground up Re-Org.

                          Maybe host an all arms conference to determine future mission profiles, build a possible fleet model based on these future missions and then establish a flying and support organization to Run and Manage this fleet.

                          At this stage the fleet does not need to be type specific, just an outline e.g. A medium Lift Transport Squadron, A ISR Squadron, A Tactical(Heli) Support Squadron etc..

                          These should be the aspirations of the AC for the next 20 years, and therefore should be about pushing forward, not just replacing the current fleet with incrementally better aircraft.

                          From these mission sets establish the competency’s that would be required of the Pilots, Engineers and support staff and design a training model that provides a pipeline of Staff to each area and establishes Career paths.

                          Put everything on the table and aim to build a Mission Focused Military Air Service.

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                          • #14
                            In fairness i think the AC is fairly mission focused (unfortunately at times above all else) but they aren't resourced to be

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                            • #15
                              Agree with both Charlie252 and DeV on their points - I think Charlie252 has hit the nail on head - more financing should = more opportunity for development of operational concepts should = improved platforms and systems to achieve those concepts and roles. For example, with the FWUA/ISR purchase (PC12?), the AC seem to be moving away from a "direct Cessna replacement with slight improvement concept". Interesting times ahead.

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