The contingent of Army special operations and logistics troops which is to serve with the international peacekeeping force in East Timor is expected to serve with New Zealand and Canada troops in the volatile area close to the border with West Timor.
The Irish contingent leaves Dublin this morning following the agreement of the Dail yesterday to allow the Defence Forces to participate in the peacekeeping mission. The contingent consists of 34 members of the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) and 15 logistics support soldiers. It is the first time that the specialist soldiers of the Ranger Wing have been deployed on a foreign mission.
By the end of the month 50 Irish soldiers will be in service with the 9,000-strong multinational force, INTERFET. They will travel first to Townsville in northern Australia, which has a similar climate, flora and fauna to east Timor, to take part in acclimatisation exercises.
They will also receive intelligence briefings on the strength, deployments, armaments and disposition of the pro-Indonesian militias opposed to the UN mandate in East Timor, where they are expected to deploy on October 25th.
It is understood they will be posted to peacekeeping duties near the border with West Timor as part of the New Zealand-led "battle group" stationed there.
However, the exact Irish "tasking" has still to be officially announced and may be changed due to local circumstances. A Canadian contingent will also serve with the New Zealand and Irish troops. Other nations serving with INTERFET include Brazil, Brunei, Fiji, France, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Britain and the US.
The Army Ranger Wing and Irish logistics troops will come under the command of the Irish Component Headquarters in the East Timorese capital, Dili. This will be under the command of Lieut. Col Derry Fitzgerald, originally from Loughrea in Galway, now living in Lucan, Co Dublin.
There will also be an Irish Headquarters "National Support Element" of six troops based in Dili and in the INTERFET headquarters in Darwin, in northern Australia.