Exclusive: Members of the elite ARW are being sent to help protect Irish soldiers there
Members of the elite Army Ranger Wing are being sent to war-torn southern Lebanon - to help protect Irish soldiers serving there, it has emerged.
The decision was made because of the increased threat to Irish soldiers serving on the UNIFIL peace mission – due to the heavy clashes in the Blue Helmets' area of operations between militia group Hezbollah and the Israeli Defence Forces. The ARW operators are experts in what’s called tactical combat casualty care – or emergency medical aid to any injured soldiers.
That exercise is the last rehearsal before the troops deploy to Lebanon – and is crucial in ensuring that the soldiers have all the skills and tactics they need to stay alive in the war zone. “Our operations have been tailored to the recent kinetic activity in the wider middle east – we prepare for the worst, so we train for the worst.”“What I have observed this week and even in the form up has been nothing but enthusiasm, an eagerness to get into the mission area, to deploy and to fulfil the mandate that we have been charged with,” he said.He said: “I am extremely confident in our capability. We have a diverse skillset and we are very confident in the capability.
Corporal Alanna Rochfort, from Dublin, is in command of a section of troops on the mission and served as a private in UNIFIL in 2021. “I am looking after them, making sure they are where they need to be,” she said.
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