Irish Army's biggest ever logistical and transport operation is almost done in 50-degree heat, writes CONOR LALLYSecurity Correspondent in Goz Beida, eastern Chad.
THE IRISH Army's no-frills camp on the Chad-Darfur border has sprung from the dust in three weeks. When a French troop-carrying military aircraft touched down at the dirt airstrip in Goz Beida yesterday, a major landmark in the Defence Forces mission had been reached.
The 160 troops, mainly from the Western Brigade, arriving from the capital N'Djamena were beginning their four-month deployment. For members of the Army Ranger Wing and a troop advance party it was the beginning of their endgame.
Another party of troops arrives on June 1st, when numbers will swell to 400. These will assume responsibility for security patrols around Goz Beida and for completing the construction of the Irish camps. That will leave the Rangers and advance party free to go home.
All who spoke to The Irish Times have enjoyed the challenge of the European EUfor peace enforcement mission but say they won't miss the temperature regularly topping 50 degrees.
Comdt Gary McKeown (44), from Galway but based in Athlone, is the operation commander overseeing the camp's development and was among the first Irish troops to arrive to construct the as yet unnamed camp in Goz Beida three weeks ago.
When he and his 30 colleagues arrived they found a greenfield 1.5km perimeter site cleared and levelled by contractors.
Containers began to arrive in truck convoys from N'Djamena 800km to the west with tents, air conditioning and water storage and purification systems along with everything else needed to construct a base for 400 Irish troops and 100 of their French and Dutch colleagues.
These were preceded by 150 vehicles including 4x4 transporters, trucks and Mowag armoured personnel carriers. Everything was shipped from Ireland to Douala in Cameroon, 2,000km from Goz Beida but still its nearest port, then flown to N'Djamena and from there trucked on dirt roads to Goz Beida. At 3,750 tonnes, it was the biggest logistical and transportation operation ever undertaken by the Defence Forces.
Comdt McKeown was among the advance party that travelled to Liberia in 2003. In Liberia, Ireland's Camp Clara was situated adjacent to Monrovia city and its port. It was also the site of the derelict Hotel Africa, meaning plumbing and other systems were still in place. In Goz Beida there was no such head-start.
"Effectively there's no infrastructure outside N'Djamena," he said of Chad. "You're hoping trucks can make it on dirt roads with ruts in them, not to mention trying to cross dried-out riverbeds with very steep banks. The trucks here certainly wouldn't past the NCT in Ireland." Three weeks later the results of the construction efforts are clear to see. Air-conditioned tents for sleeping have begun to fill the site. Shower and toilet facilities are on stream. All shower water is recycled for the toilets.
There is no recreational area yet but some soldiers have fashioned chin-up bars and dumb-bells from available items. Some have brought hurls to keep in shape. Dublin, Offaly and Meath flags have been hoisted above tents.
Fuel tanks with a capacity of 380,000 litres are ready for the camp's 150 vehicles. Some 90,000 litres of water have been stored in rubber tanks, 50,000 litres have been stockpiled, wells sunk and water towers constructed.
Traces of domesticity have already crept in with washing lines between accommodation tents full of uniforms drying in the afternoon sun. Pack rations are the order of the day; cooking facilities are almost complete. One thing the troops will be forced to go without is alcohol. On previous missions they have been allowed three cans of beer three times per week. But Chad is a "dry" mission.
Comdt McKeown believes most of the personnel won't miss "a few pints". "While I really do enjoy a pint myself I haven't wanted to go for one since I came out here. It's hard enough to manage yourself down here, getting up at 4.30am, without going down the line of having a couple of beers."