Phoenix Magazine article.

[trellheim]

The current Phoenix has data on the re-org and names serving personnel. Someone has a grudge ....


Any ideas who did it ? I'm f***ing FURIOUS

[andy]

is there any chance someone can scan it in ?

[Fox]

So were all up on it?

[Victor]

Pardon the odd typo

From Phoenix Magazine www.phoenix-magzine.com
THE PHOENIX
October 24, 2003 page 7
TARGETING MICHAEL SMITH

THE REVIEW of the Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) is starting to resemble the Luas project in its pace and, not surprisingly, the boys in green are getting a little hot under the collar and if Minister for Defence, Michael Smith, is not careful, he could have a coup on his hands.

The Defence White Paper contained significant recommendations for the reorganisation of the 13,500-member RDF (predominantly made up of the FCA battalions around the country). One of the reasons for the overhaul was the inability of the Army to attract and Michael maintain reserve force Smith members, with morale plummeting as a result. Unfortunately, despite grandiose promises and the publication of further reports and the setting up of an implementation body to oversee the changes, the troops have seen very little action since the Minister accepted the RD17's Review Implementation Plan 18 months ago.

Originally it was proposed that the reorganisation of the RDF would be completed by 2006, but this has been quietly long fingered to the end of 2008 (according to the Department of Defence's Strategy Statement 2003-2005). The restructuring involves the creation of an 2,700?man 'integrated' Reserve - which would operate in conjunction with the Permanent Defence Force - and a main Army Reserve of 9,300. The amalgamation of FCA units is also envisaged and will lead to a reduction of over 1,500 in RDF membership around the country.

Earlier this month, Commandant Tony Hanlon (Ops Officer) wrote to all unit commands noting that "the implementation process has been delayed by reason of political pressure being brought to bear on the Minster's office. This has had the effect of retarding planned implementation initiatives ... There has been considerable activity at Defence Forces and Defence Reserve Forces level in the context of addressing the inertia created by the c logjam, it is considered essential that the situation that currently obtains is communicated to stakeholders". This missive led to a meeting last weekend in Cathal Brugha Barracks addressed by Hanlon and Lt Col O'Donovan, Formation Commander. Happily, despite strong opinions being expressed, there was no decision made to march on Leinster House ... yet.

From Phoenix MAgazine www.phoenix-magzine.com
THE PHOENIX
October 24, 2003 page 7
IRISH ARMY'S 'NUCLEAR ROLES'

WHEN a former leader of Fine Gael Michael Noonan ? expresses concern that Irish security policy has moved ahead of the Irish people, alarm bells should ring loud and clear. Noonan was spooked by the policy paper delivered recently by the Government's military establishment ? the Defence Forces, as well as the departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs ? to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Goldhawk has read the same document The Defence Forces and UN Peacekeeping Operations - and it appears that Bertie Ahem, Brian Cowen and Michael Smith have excelled themselves, even b., the standards of this duplicitous Government, in committing Ireland to various Michael military entities while still Noonan protesting that our neutrality is intact.

There cannot be many Irish people who know that we are now actively committed on three military fronts ? the European Union Rapid Reaction Force (EURRF); the United Nations Standby Arrangements System (UNSAS) and the Partnership for Peace Planning and Review Process (PfP/PARP). The PfP is an adjunct of NATO and Irish membership is a stratagem designed to link us to NATO while allowing Bertie and Biffo to dem that me are members of that alliance.

the DFA explained that the UN is increasingly turning to-coalitions of the willing" (an unfortunate phrase) to carry out missions like the war against Iraq in 1991 and against Afghanistan in 2001. Thus, a senior Iveagh House diplomat, John Deady, was able to tell the Oireachtas committee that the Government could commit Irish troops to Iraq if the UN endorsed a mission there. The Seville Declaration, lodged with the EU when Ireland ratified the Nice Treaty, states that Ireland can only commit troops if the UN endorses the mission concerned.

The submission from the military brass and diplomatic elite makes it clear that more interventions from "the international community" or "coalitions of the willing" (ie, the West) would be necessary in the immediate future. This is partly due to the increased need for "peace enforcement which is regarded as more hazardous and dangerous than peacekeeping operations and which, according to the Government document, are more "likely to incur some level of hostility, if not downright aggression". These pressures mean there are greater demands on the Irish Defence Forces which, in turn, need to be well trained and experienced in order to participate.

In a section titled: "Capability and Readiness of the Defence Forces", the mandarins put forward a devastatingly simple argument: The best way to ensure the experience and training necessary for involvement in these dangerous, military operations abroad is for the Defence Forces to be continuously involved in such operations. It is also argued that participation in NATO's PfP will enhance the interoperability of the Defence Forces with other (NATO) armies.

Small wonder that Noonan became concerned that Ireland is now committed to three separate military alliances, as enumerated, and that the public is unaware of the extent of plans to involve us in military adventures. Noonan has since been made to look a little foolish by Enda Kenny who, just three days after Baldy expressed his concerns, demanded that Ireland dispense with the nitpicking UN criteria before committing Irish soldiers to war.

Meanwhile, the Army Brass and top civil servants do not even make ritual genuflections in front of Irish neutrality, a concept and a phrase that is not even mentioned in the document's 23 pages. What is mentioned, however, is that "scope also exists (in the Defence Forces' preparation for foreign interventions) for non?combat platoon sized deployments in Civil/Military Cooperation (CIMIC) and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) roles .......

[Groundhog]

It's a bit disingenuous of Noonan to pretend surprise at something that has been common knowledge for years now. While the man on the street might be ignorant of these facts (and I'll bet he couldn't give a toss anyway), the former leader of the opposition should certainly have been aware of them.

As for the article on the re-org, about the only revelation is that it's been put back two years. Be prepared for further delays. Some of the recommendations in the Gleeson report in 1990 or was it 91 have still not been implemented and never will be.