Until yesterday's announcement of severe cutbacks, the Defence Forces were enjoying a new sense of purpose partly as a result of the post-September 11th climate of uncertainty, writes Jim Cusack
The Defence Forces were in the spotlight this week as the Chief of Staff published its upbeat annual report for 2001 - its troops in Sarajevo were prepared for withdrawal in the midst of the US-UN dispute over the International Criminal Court and another group of foreign junior officers passed through its UN peacekeeping course in the Curragh.
Then the good news for the military came to an abrupt stop yesterday as the Government imposed a cutback on all capital spending.
There was a sense earlier in the week at McKee Barracks, the Army's headquarters in Dublin, that the Defence Forces had turned a corner; that things, for once, were looking up. Senior officers, who did well under the Government's benchmarking process, were understandably content.
In itself, the 2001 annual report released on Wednesday by the Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Colm Mangan, also had an unusual fair share of good news for the military.
Underlying the confidence was not simply the fact that the military had met and passed all the reorganisation and restructuring targets set for it over the past decade, but also that it had in the process achieved for itself a new sense of purpose and importance.
Part of the reason stems from the post September 11th fall-out.
In the near-hysteria that followed the attacks, it was the Army's Ordnance Corps which was called on and which was identified and dealt with the mysterious substances which shocked people believed to be chemical or biological agents.
The corps has some of the most sophisticated and experienced bomb-disposal teams in the world as a result of decades of dealing with improvised bombs at home and all sorts of deadly devices during their service in conflict zones around the world with the United Nations.
The Government's response to September 11th included the appointment of the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, as head of its emergency planning committee. The military again was able to provide the expertise on what to do in the event of a real security crisis.
It was also noted at Government level that it was the Army's Intelligence Corps which had been keeping a quiet eye on the activities of al-Qaeda supporters living in the Republic and knew all about the fact that they were part of a major international conspiracy.
The Army knew, for instance, that the person who was probably Osama bin Laden's top man in Ireland left the country in July and disappeared, although it could not have known this was in advance of the attacks in the United States.
Lt Gen Mangan quietly revealed on Wednesday that since September 11th, the Army has greatly increased its stock of nuclear biological and chemical protective suits, acquired new detection equipment and a new anti-aircraft system. It has quietly acquired an elaborate new air defence system which is under test and has yet to be shown to the public.
The Chief of Staff also made the first public reference to the A70 missile system and Flycatcher radar.
Hopefully, none of this equipment will ever be used in a real crisis, but the Army had shown itself to be prepared and to know what to do. It had, in effect, given reassurance at a time when nobody was quite sure what to do.
If the military felt it was being appreciated for once, it was something many felt was long overdue. A senior source pointed out that September 11th showed that the State had a need of a proper defence force and that neutrality was a nonsense if a country did not have the ability to defend itself militarily.
IT WAS also appreciated within the military that when the country felt itself under threat it had a proper, trained and ready army.
This marks a big change for a Defence Forces which has felt itself to be unappreciated and simply marking time. Over the past decade, the Defence Forces underwent a painful and protracted period of downsizing and re-organisation, capped by a Government Defence White Paper in 2000 which was seen within the military as yet another attempt to erode its position.
The White Paper included the last in a series of cuts which reduced the overall size of the Defence Forces from 13,500 to 10,5000. At the start of the reorganisation process, which involved a prolonged and painful series of examinations and recommendations by business consultants, the aim was set out to reduce the military flab; to improve the "teeth to tail" ratio.
In 1992, when the reorganisation process started, the Defence Forces had one of the highest age profiles of any national army. The Army, in particular, was carrying an exceptional number of unfit and overweight soldiers. Then, there was the morale-sapping saga of the hearing disability claims which left the military open to scorn about there being a huge compensation scam.
In fact, the hearing disability episode came close to very seriously damaging the Defence Forces' prospects.
The high awards made in the courts threatened the defence budget for the foreseeable future until a determined campaign by Mr Smith reduced the quantum awards and managed the process into a proper system of lower awards and decent assistance for those who had genuinely suffered hearing damage as a result of negligence.
Then last year the military was finally confronted with the shocking truth about the sexual discrimination and harassment of women soldiers after the publication of a report by one of its former junior officers, former captain Dr Tom Clonan.
The Minister for Defence and the Chief of Staff appointed Dr Eileen Doyle to examine and report on the situation. Dr Doyle confirmed Dr Clonan's findings and has been retained to implement a process of reforming the attitudes of the Defence Forces to women.
Lt Gen Mangan was also able to announce on Wednesday that the major re-equipment programme, paid for by savings from early retirements and sale of excess military properties, is well under way.
Despite the cuts announced by the Minister yesterday, the Army will shortly receive the last of its armoured personnel carriers which it will need for service with the UN and European Rapid Reaction Force, the 60,000-strong EU peacekeeping and intervention which is due to be in place by next year.
A €65 million barracks and stores building programme is also nearing completion and €25 million has been spent buying the new LE Niamh for the Naval Service. The cuts announced yesterday will hit the Air Corps worst.
Some €70 million set aside to buy new aircraft for the Air Corps will now probably go to paying off Government debt.