Written 1 month ago by Angel Croitor

---

Captain Alan Burke, Corporal Conor Watts, and Corporal Karen Rainey spoke to Will O’Callaghan on Midlands Today about how they’ve prepared for the deployment to Golan Heights and how it feels just before they’ve headed out for their tour of duty in the next six months.  They have been deployed earlier today before 11am.

This will be the 9th group from the Irish Defence Forces who will keep peace on the Golan Heights. They are heading out as part of the United Nations Disengagement Observation Force (UNDOF).

“I’ve been looking forward to this for many years – there’s been a lot of training and preparation for me and for the rest of the 131 people coming up to this point – it’s something I’m looking forward to immensely.” – Captain Alan Burke

Captain Alan Burke, a native from Athlone, has been in the Irish Defence Forces for 9 years and tell us that the preparation starts from the get go in initial recruit and cadetship training. The last seven to eight weeks intensely training on mission readiness exercises to simulate the kind of situations they may encounter.

Despite the obvious fear of anything kicking off on the ground the men and women are looking forward and ready to carry out the mission as best as possible. The unit have a bond that you can only bond with others you have to trust your life with but it doesn’t take away from the pain of missing their families especially as Christmas is only around the corner.

Corporal Karen Rainey, with over 20 years in the Defence Forces, will actually be out on a family friendly appointment. This new initiative, brought about in the last few years by the Defence Forces, helps troops split their trips with a colleague for half of their duty. This gives Corporal Karen Rainey the opportunity to be there on Christmas with her family and she will deploy out after the new year.

“I wasn’t in a position to go until now – the family friendly appointment has made it much more accessible for me to go.” – Corporal Karen Rainey.

Corporal Conor Watts has served 7 years in the Defence Forces and has been overseas before. He was deployed in Lebanon five years ago and really enjoyed the experience. He found it challenging to leave home but once he landed on the ground and got into a routine the group forced a close knit bond and it made it much easier to carry out their mission. He assures us that despite the obvious pain of missing out on family events this is what they’ve been training for since day one.

“The facilities are quite good within the camp itself – there’s a good gym, different sorts of social activities you can engage in out there. We’ll form a strong bond once we get there.”

We wish them safe travels and a successful tour of duty.

---