MAJ GEN Dave Stapleton, the Quartermaster General of the Defence Forces, has become the fifth Irish soldier to be appointed a force commander for a major United Nations operation, Jim Cusack, Security Correspondent, writes.
It was announced yesterday that he will take command of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) which was established in 1973 to maintain the ceasefire and supervise disengagement after the last Israeli-Arab war. It oversees arrangements over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, claimed by Syria.
Maj Gen Stapleton will be based in Damascus and is in charge of a force of more than 1,100 troops mainly from Austria, Canada, Japan and Poland. He succeeds a Dutch officer as force commander.
