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editor’s letter
Hello,
Welcome to the Winter 2018 edition of SIGNAL. The focus of this edition is very much on the recently held RACO Special Delegate Conference at Fota Island resort in Cork. The status of the conciliation and arbitration scheme and the EU Working Time Directive, debate around which formed much of the conference business, are explored in detail in this issue. It’s also a time of change in RACO, with General Secretary Lt Col Earnán Naughton stepping down. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with Earnán over recent years, and I think he has done an excellent job, taking on very difficult issues head-on and I think the Association has been transformed in many ways under his stewardship. We at SIGNAL wish him all the very best for the future. His replacement at RACO will be Commandant Conor King, and I look forward to working with him on future editions and would like to thank him for all his assistance with this issue.
Elsewhere this edition we take a look behind the MOWAG upgrade and what it means for this vital element of force protection. We also take a look at UAV’s from an EU perspective, with the author arguing that non-combat functions should be at the fore of future UAV development. We also took the time to talk to Colonel (Ret’d) Colm Doyle on his recent book ‘Witness To War Crimes’ which recalls his experiences in Sarajevo in the early nineties as the Bosnian war erupted. The book is an excellent read and we’d like to thank Colm for taking the time to talk to us. We also heard from Commandant (Ret’d) Mick Broderick on what made military life so special and how he has made a success of his subsequent career.
As always we would love to hear from you with any ideas, feedback or submissions.
We would like to sign-off by within you all a very safe and successful 2019.
Yours sincerely,
Ruairi Kavanagh
Editor Signal
| WINTER ‘18 | | 7
THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF RACO - REPRESENTATIVE ASSOCIATION OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
FORCE PROTECTION
INSIDE THE MOWAG MID-LIFE UPGRADE
EU WORKING TIME DIRECTIVE
WHY THE DF SHOULD INTRODUCE THE WTD
Facing The Challenges: RACO ADC Photos & Coverage Inside
COVER:
Pilot at Air Corps Flight Training School, Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel Photograph by Mr Mark Pollock
EDITOR:
Ruairi Kavanagh
CONSULTING EDITORS:
Lt Col Earnán Naughton Comdt (Ret’d) Conor Lynch Comdt Conor King
DESIGN AND LAYOUT:
Marjolaine Gonet Universal Media
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT:
Alan Donnelly
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Peter Shaughnessy Irish Air Corps Department of Defence Defence Forces Press Office Comdt Conor King Captain Paul Ryan
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'It's Been The Biggest Professional Challenge Of My Career' Outgoing RACO General Secretary Earnan Naughton
VOLUME 16 iSSUE 2
WINTER 2018 ISSN 1649 7635