Page 24 - Linkline Summer 2017

Ad Omnia Paratus - ‘Prepared for Anything’
The role of Ireland in the Nordic Battlegroup.
In June 2016 CILT members attended an event at Collins Barracks Cork, organised by the Southern Section. Hosted by Comdt Laurence Egar of the Irish Defence Forces, members were given a guided tour of the military museum and military logistical equipment. Capt Robert Moriarty gave an impressive presentation on the logistical challenges faced by the Defence Forces (DF) as part of their attachment to the Nordic Battle Group.
Steve O’Sullivan, Logistics Manager with Nualight, outlines Ireland’s Nordic Battle Group role, and how the Defence Forces overcame significant logistical challenges leading up to, and during, deployment.
Battlegroups: Historical Context
In 1975 the Helsinki Accords were signed, a non-binding agreement aimed at reducing tensions between the Communist bloc and the West. Members of the European Economic Community (EEC as the EU was known then) subsequently signed the Helsinki Headline Goal to enable the completion of the so-called Petersburg Task. These included humanitarian roles, rescue, peacekeeping and crisis management tasks. From this, an EU Battlegroup was established, now comprising 18 sub-groups of small, independent, self-sufficient, rapid-response units capable of swift deployment.
One such unit is the Nordic Battle Group (NBG), headquartered in Enköping, Sweden, which has been active since 2008 and has a force of 2500 soldiers. NBG members include Sweden, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Irish Defence Forces, with the second largest troop contingent, is the eyes and ears of the Battlegroup, providing an ISTAR component: intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance. Another vital Irish element has been logistical support.
The Irish Defence Forces operational rotation of the Nordic Battle Group spanned 18 months. The mission statement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Deputy Chief of Staff (D-COS), authorised the capability to set up a theatre of operation anywhere in the world within a 72-hour notice period from its base in Collins Barracks, Cork.
An expeditionary logistics concept was initiated to integrate with the Swedish armed forces and set up within a green field site in Skillingaryd, in Sweden. This concept derived from the Commanding Officer Lt Col Paul Carey, who issued a commander’s ‘intent of operation’ to Comdt James Hourgan and Capt Robert Moriarty to lead strategic procurement and tactical deployment, respectively. The MOU adopted a non-traditional, all-arms approach that facilitated cross- organisational support to the Battlegroup, such as knowledge and equipment sharing.
Capt Moriarty was issued with a CS-41 document, a type of service level agreement that outlined the available resources to meet the mission objectives. Supply, sustain and maintain were the tenets applied in order to develop a self-sufficient unit of excellence, with food and hygiene being at the forefront of considerations. This used a front load policy which meant positioning all personnel and equipment in Sweden at the start of the operation. The CS-41 made certain provisions from which certain challenges arose within a broad categorisation of ‘constraints, restrictions, freedoms’:
• Fifty-one personnel were needed to maintain equipment such as weapons (valued at €1.6m) and catering systems and transportation which included two DAF 6x6 trucks, each with two drivers.
• Nineteen containers which included: tents in two units, 3000 pack rations capable of sustaining the brigade for 20 days, dry goods, fuel pod, ammunition, pyrotechnics in a separate container and thereby not completely utilised, weapons systems, together with dangerous goods certificates, and generators.
Due to the front load policy and for security reasons, the Irish moved ammunition, baggage, a fuel pod, generators, weapons and communications to the brigade assembly point in Skillingaryd in advance of the exercise. This included a C2 Container housing the Tactical Operations Centre (TOC) which became the epicentre of the site from which all other elements developed.
Logistical Challenges in Deployment
The main strategy, or NBG logistical concept, was to conduct operations, regardless of environment, from 30 to 120 days, characterised by a high level of flexibility, modularity and endurance.
24 The CharTered InsTITuTe of LogIsTICs & TransporT
LOGISTICS