Three hundred and forty-three (343) personnel, comprising of three hundred and thirty-four (334) Irish Defence Forces soldiers and nine (9) Armed Forces of Malta soldiers who together make up the 123rd Infantry Battalion, are entering the final phase of training in preparation for their forthcoming deployment to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, (UNIFIL) based in South Lebanon.
This training is taking place in the Glen of Imaal, Co Wicklow. The personnel of the unit have a mix of experience from soldiers and officers on their first deployment, to highly experienced senior Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and commanders.
The 123rd Infantry Battalion will deploy to south Lebanon at the beginning of November, taking over duties from the 122nd Infantry Battalion who have been serving with UNIFIL since May. The personnel travelling with the 123rd Infantry Battalion represent a number of counties across Ireland with the main contributing units being based in the 1 Brigade area of responsibility, and the majority of personnel coming from Kilkenny and the greater Munster region.
The Mission Readiness Exercise puts commanders and soldiers through a demanding series of scenarios indicative of the current situation in the Middle East and based on potential threats that may be encountered in the volatile mission area. Troops will face simulated explosive strikes, be asked to secure, extract and evacuate personnel, as well as anti-ambush tactics and detailed operational planning. The group will be firing 3 x Javelin Anti-tank Missiles as part of the mission readiness training.
The exercise will provide excellent photographic opportunities and will include time to interview members of the contingent. Members of the media are invited to attend.
MEDIA WISHING TO ATTEND PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS TO PRESS@MILITARY.IE BY 05.00PM ON WEDNESDAY 18 OCTOBER 23
Date/Time: 11.00am-02.30pm 19th October 2023.
Location: Coolmoney Camp, Glen of Imaal, Co Wicklow (off the N81, Glen of Imaal/ Coolmoney Camp is signposted. The camp itself is on Google Maps).
Point Of Contact: Comdt Conor Hurley 0872482130 / Captain Kevin Kenny 0876738395
Notes
The Javelin is a man-portable, “fire-and-forget” anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system with an effective range of 2.5 km. It was designed to defeat heavily armoured vehicles such as main battle tanks and lighter-skinned military vehicles.
