DECEMBER 2024AEROSPACEDEFENSEREVIEW.COM19onto a Lo-Lo Ship, because Beirut had no Ro-Ro facilities, the ship set sail for Ireland on its three-week journey. Throughout the voyage, J4 staff were on board the ship, including some of the Young Student Officers. Irish J4 personnel supervised all movements, loadings, and unloadings until the equipment arrived safely back at the base in Ireland. Once the heavy equipment was in transit by sea and safely out of the JOA, the soldiers of the Irish Contingent were then successfully rotated by air from Beirut Airport, as Damascus Airport was not available.The next task for J4 will be to consolidate all the newly arrived equipment from Syria and reverse the process to support Ireland's commitment to the upcoming EU Battlegroup Rapid Deployment Concept for 2025. Operating alongside the partner nations of Belgium and Germany, Ireland plans to deploy a Mechanised Company of Equipment to Mainland Europe throughout the entirety of the Stand-By period for this EU Battlegroup. This project will entail moving over twenty mostly armored vehicles and nearly forty containers to Germany in Quarter Three (Q3) of 2024. With Belgium and German cooperation and support, the equipment will be unloaded from its seaport of choice onto trains and heavy road vehicles and transported to the new Irish Logistics Base, co-located with the Germans in central Europe.Planning and collaboration for this logistical operation also began over twelve months ago. Similar to the recent withdrawal from Syria, J4 will coordinate and use the majority of the Irish Defence Forces' logistics capabilities to achieve success in this large and demanding logistical operation. As the withdrawal operations and European deployments were in the planning and operational phases, J4 is also preparing, as part of the new Irish Defence Forces Transformation Agenda, to establish a new Joint Logistical HQ. This new Joint Logistics HQ needs to be configured and designed to support the ever-increasing logistical and sustainment demands encountered by the Irish Defence Forces.Colonel Prendergast recently published his first book, Clear ­ Hold ­ Build, How the Free State Won the Irish Civil War (1922-1923), by Wordwell Publications in 2024. It encompasses and utilizes his previous military experiences and education as he spent over six years researching how the newly established Irish National Army used a counterinsurgency doctrine that allowed them to convert tactical victories into overall strategic success. This strategic success was enabled by the superior logistical and sustaining advantages and enjoyed by the newly established National Army throughout this bitter conflict. THROUGHOUT THE PLANNING PROCESS, EXCELLENT CIVIL-MILITARY COLLABORATION ENSURED MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY AND COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
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