THE EU should consider offering its rapid response battle groups to help deal with natural disasters and humanitarian crises, a leading Swedish military commander suggested yesterday during a visit to Ireland.
Brig Gen Jan Stefan Andersson commands the Nordic Battle Group 2011, in which Irish troops will team up next year with soldiers from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia and be on standby for a rapid deployment in the event of a military crisis.
Brig Gen Andersson suggested yesterday that the EU should consider broadening the range of possible deployments for the battle groups to include natural disasters and humanitarian crises such as the Haitian earthquake.
“When I was sitting on my sofa in my apartment in Stockholm and saw the crisis in Haiti, I thought that this is an extremely good example of when the European Union should open their toolbox and see what is needed,” he said.
“Within the Nordic Battle Group, we have a medical company, we have transportation, we have helicopters and tactical aircraft, we have well-trained soldiers who can support those who need support in such situations.
“The European Union family should consider having a more flexible use of the battle groups. They should focus not only on crisis management from a military perspective but also look at humanitarian crises such as Haiti or the Pakistan earthquake because we can deliver.”
Brig Gen Andersson was speaking during a visit to Kilworth Army Ranges in north Cork, where he inspected training exercises involving 488 personnel from the First Southern Brigade in preparation for next year’s participation in the Nordic Battle Group.
“I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen. This is actually my second time visiting the Southern Brigade down in Cork. One big advantage of the Irish contribution is that Ireland, like Sweden, has a long tradition of serving as peacekeepers.
“This unit has just recently returned from peacekeeping duties in Chad, which means the troops have experience not just as soldiers but also from the cultural and the ethnic dimension and that is very important.
“I am very happy to have Irish soldiers participating in the Nordic Battle Group. I have served with Irish soldiers before both in Lebanon and Bosnia and if I was to summarise my impressions, I would use only one word: professional.”
The three-day training exercise, under the command of Lt Col Brendan O’Shea of Collins Barracks in Cork, involved 109 surveillance and reconnaissance experts drawn from infantry, artillery, cavalry and engineering corps.
They were grouped together in an intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance company given the task of carrying out reconnaissance on an enemy force at Glenaclucky Mountain in Kilworth and reporting back to Battalion HQ at Kilcoran.
The remainder of the force, consisting of troops from the 4th Battalion from Collins Barracks in Cork, the 12th Battalion from Sarsfields Barracks in Limerick and 3rd Battalion from Stephens Barracks in Kilkenny, then had to engage with the enemy.
The main force, armed with Steyr rifles and in full battle dress, was airlifted by four Air Corps AgustaWestland choppers flying in formation close to Glenaclucky Mountain, where it will engage the enemy today.
