Irish Defence forces will undergo NATO training in Cork

A NATIONAL exercise evaluation of the Irish Defence Forces is taking place in Kilworth Camp in Cork this week, under the supervision of NATO.

The 1 Brigade Artillery Regiment (BAR) is being assessed by NATO to ensure that its tactics, techniques, and procedures are in line with best practice and NATO standards. The military exercise evaluation is part of NATO’s Operational Capability Concept (OCC) programme, a voluntary programme that the Irish Defence Forces have been involved in since 2016.

Involvement with the programme is primarily about standardisation of equipment and procedures, and the Irish Defence Forces have already had three exercise evaluations involving our land, maritime and special forces.

“OCC is designed to assist those NATO partner nations who aspire to improve their national militaries by measuring their performance against a wide catalogue of NATO standards,” said a spokesperson for the Irish Defence Forces.

“A nation which engages in NATO OCC military exercise evaluation is improving its overall military capability, is reinforcing its force protection measures and is ultimately strengthening its national defence,” they added.

This week, from June 6 to 9 , the 1 Brigade Artillery Regiment is conducting a Defence Forces led self-evaluation known as a ‘SEL’.

They will continue training until November, when they undergo NATO led evaluation.

Ireland’s role as a NATO partner dates back to 1999 when Ireland joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.

The Defence Forces spokesperson said participation in PfP is “seen as fundamental to Ireland being able to meet its obligations in providing professional peacekeepers for international crisis management, and peacekeeping operations mandated by the UN, and in enhancing the Defence Forces’ interoperability with other professional military forces”.

Ireland is currently a participant in a NATO-led and UN-mandated PSO mission in KFOR (Kosovo).