Irish Army In Chad

minidazzler

Its the Government its their job to be as stupid as possible with expenditure.

Also I hear that Desert DPM's are on order but not in yet. Not too sure of how true it is though!!!

Oilrig

Mairt wrote: »

and the dollar is strong.:D

Care to pass on the contact details of your money exchanger?

rwag

Ha! Very true, our government are a disgrace at the best of times!
I havent heard of any desert combats being on order. The rangers had to buy their own desert combats but were told they were not allowed to wear them. The only members of staff that have the desert combats are the ones in the EUFOR HQ in Paris in their airconditioned offices! Makes perfect sence.. The rangers are in the asshole of nowhere in chad in green dpms, in tents with no aircon and its 40 degrees in the shade..

muletide

rwag wrote: »

Ha! Very true, our government are a disgrace at the best of times!
I havent heard of any desert combats being on order. The rangers had to buy their own desert combats but were told they were not allowed to wear them. The only members of staff that have the desert combats are the ones in the EUFOR HQ in Paris in their airconditioned offices! Makes perfect sence.. The rangers are in the asshole of nowhere in chad in green dpms, in tents with no aircon and its 40 degrees in the shade..

Oh dear - you are wrong in so many areas there is no point even starting. A small bit of information can be very dangerous indeed

rwag

How am i wrong? If you seem to think i am so wrong then enlighten me, i'd love to hear how information that is 100% true could be so wrong?

minidazzler

I will point out one or two things.

You say that our government are a disgrace. (I was generalising about Beaurocrats I actually like Bertie alot) Not especially. See all the new cool kit the lads have going over.

Even if they did buy their own Desert combats well if they wore all different clothes they would look like Mercs.

Pat Nash is Wearing his DPM's as normal and No. 1's for very official meetings from what I have heard.

There was a pic in an Cosainteoir with Pictures of a few lads (cant remember where) who were all wearing Desert DPMs maybe in Afghanistan or somewhere like that.(we do/did have a few there(If I remember correctly[please put me right if I am wrong here] and AFAIK its not OPSEC)

I could go on.

But in the end, they are rangers I think they can and should be able to survive much harser conditions.

rwag

havent seen an Cosainteoir in about a month or so, so havent seen the photos but they are wearing the desert dpms at times out there. True they did get a great new kit going out there and their vehicles are working brilliantly in the conditions but i'm afraid i cant support you on the government! The pdf were the only civil servents not to get the pay raise this year which alot of serving members find insulting. Those lads are made of tough stuff and have endured worse in ireland. They are getting on fine out there and seem to be well recieved by locals

uptherebels

rwag wrote: »

in tents with no aircon and its 40 degrees in the shade..

I believe that its better not to have the air con.Its better to aclimatise to the heat so it will be easier for them to do their job.

IRLConor

uptherebels wrote: »

I believe that its better not to have the air con.Its better to aclimatise to the heat so it will be easier for them to do their job.

Well, I'm not (and have never been) in the military, but from time in the tropics I can tell you that water, shade and a decent fan is definitely better than air con. Coming from air con into 40C+ can be hard going particularly if there's a big difference in humidity.

Irish_Army01

OS119 wrote: »

apparently they have been ordered, and some have arrived, but not enough for the whole force, so its been decided that the first roulement will wear temperate/tropical DPM and the second roulement will deploy with Desert DPM - assuming its ready.


b) in comfort terms a set of tropical DPM's should be as comfortable in that environment as desert DPM's - the garment is usually the same just a different colour.

c) by wearing a 'temperate' DPM in a desert envronment you'll stick out like the bollocks on a bulldog.
.

They Won't be issued Desert Camo because they want to stick out like the bollocks on a bulldog.

They don't want body bags comming home coz Irish Troops got mistaken for French ones.

WE have Light temperate DPM's for hot climates

Thats what happened in Somalia with the Choc-Chip US style pattern. Looked to much like American Forces.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Irish_Army01 wrote: »

Thats what happened in Somalia with the Choc-Chip US style pattern. Looked to much like American Forces.

It WAS American. And we wore the French 'Franklins' in Lebanon for a time too.

IMHO if we didn't want to get mixed up with the French we shouldn't have gotten involved in a French war.

Irish_Army01

Mairt wrote: »

It WAS American. And we wore the French 'Franklins' in Lebanon for a time too.

IMHO if we didn't want to get mixed up with the French we shouldn't have gotten involved in a French war.

I know it was American..Exactly My Point.. And the French weren't in the hills of South Lebanon to get Mistaken for us when we did have the franklins-or vise versa.

arnhem44

My brother is one of the fifty gone out there,from the news that is sent back the dust and heat seem to be there main problem,looking at the defence force website the photos posted of the guys there do make them stand out like sore thumbs in there green camo,I don't care what they wear as long as they come back safely

arybvtcw0eolkf

Irish_Army01 wrote: »

.. And the French weren't in the hills of South Lebanon to get Mistaken for us when we did have the franklins-or vise versa.

Nope but our helmets (although Blue) were Israeli made, as were our flakkers.

camoman

Rock99 wrote: »

Have to laugh at these posts :D The irish will do what they do best on any over seas mission. Drink and get a sun tan. And that is a fact.

GIVEN THAT IT IS A'DRY' MISSION THAT WILL BE DIFFICULT. DON'T APPLY YOUR OWN STANDARDS TO OTHERS

Morpheus

uptherebels wrote: »

firstly we dont have enough and if we did send them they would need a major refitting to be able to operate in the heat and dust in chad and i seriously doubt if any commercial company would have helicopters with the necessary equipment for military use and if they did they certainly wouldnt put them in harms way as helicopters are expensive

:rolleyes:
well we did lease some and look where its gotten us today!!!


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1028/1225061111281.html

Army paid EUR 2.5m for grounded helicopters
CONOR LALLY

THE DEFENCE Forces paid €2.5 million to lease two helicopters in Chad that have effectively been grounded since it emerged they were not licensed to carry troops.



The cost of leasing the two Russian helicopters and Ukrainian crew is contained in a report on the embarrassing mix-up which will be handed to Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea. An investigation into the matter was launched in September by Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieut Gen Dermot Earley with Mr O’Dea requesting the full report.



The investigation examined how senior military personnel signed off on a 10-month contract valued at €2.5 million without realising the aircraft they were hiring could not be used for their primary purpose of carrying Irish troops around Chad.



The helicopters can still be used to ferry equipment and could be used to evacuate personnel in an emergency, a spokesman said.



The Mi-8T choppers were leased from Air Partner Commercial Jets, a UK company, and became operational in July. Dutch personnel serving alongside the Irish in Chad raised concerns that the helicopters were flying without proper certification.



In previous missions the same model of helicopter was used to carry Irish personnel but in those cases the helicopters were approved military aircraft. Because the helicopters leased by the Irish in Chad are civilian aircraft they would need to comply with civilian regulations, such as having toilets on board and front-facing seats, before they could be used to carry personnel.



Once the licensing concerns emerged the transportation of personnel on both helicopters was discontinued. The helicopters have not been replaced.



The leasing arrangement was entered into after EU states participating in the EUfor peace enforcement mission in Chad did not commit enough helicopters.



In order to carry out their full range of operations the Irish needed helicopters of their own to carry personnel. A number of airborne operations involving the deployment of Irish troops into remote parts of Chad have had to be abandoned. The need for the leased helicopters has been particularly acute over the past two months, during which time they were grounded. The rainy season has made Chad’s network of dirt roads impassable, greatly limiting the scope for long-range patrols.



The mix-up is also being examined by the Department of Defence’s internal audit unit. A report on the unit’s findings will be sent to the Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley.



None of the Air Corps helicopters have been brought to Chad because they are needed at home. Nor are they suitable for transporting large numbers of troops. There are a total of 3,700 troops serving with EUfor. About 470 of these are Irish, with the main contingent based in Goz Beida in eastern Chad.



EUfor is mandated by the UN to protect refugees and internally displaced people and to create a secure environment for UN staff and humanitarian organisations.



The 12-month mission is due to end in March and will most likely be replaced by a UN mission.





Some MI-8T stats:



Role:

Transport helicopter

Manufacturer:

Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant

First flight:

9 July 1961

Introduced:

1967 Status

In service Primary users:

Soviet Union, ca. 80 other countries Produced 1961-

Number built:

>12,000

Unit cost:

$5-8 million (2006) (well done the army, for another 2.5 we could have our own)

Variants:

Mil Mi-14
Mil Mi-17
Mil Mi-24