# What do the Army do?



## QED (18 May 2009)

What do the approx 10,000 employees of the Department of Defence actually do all day?

I know that some do very good work abroad but the 2007 annual report says that the number abroad at any one time peaked at 830.

What does everyone else do to pass the day? I see young men standing around the barracks in jungle camouflage and they all look bored. It all seems like boys playing games but it's costing us a lot of money!!


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## Mpsox (18 May 2009)

Some practical things would include security at certain prisons or where there is a need for an army escort for taking eg subversives, to and from court

Presume it would also include areas such as the air force and navy which would cover off things like air-sea rescue, fishery patrols, search parties for sunken boats, supporting the customs and excise staff, not to mention flying politicians around the country !!!

Bear in mind as well that whilst there may be 830 abroad, there could be as many training to go abroad on the next tour of duty shipping out.

There is perhaps an arguement for cuts in areas such as the army band and equistrian school, not really sure what practical purposes they serve


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## BillK (18 May 2009)

George Orwell once said, "Your children can sleep safely in their beds at night because my child is one of those rough men who stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

I don't know about the Irish army, but the bandsmen in the British Army are also medics. Again, in the BA the cavalry look very well on their horses, but their working vehicles are armoured cars, tanks etc.


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## QED (18 May 2009)

BillK said:


> George Orwell once said, "Your children can sleep safely in their beds at night because my child is one of those rough men who stand ready to do violence on their behalf."


 
I would expect that if Ireland was ever attacked by another country or terrorists we would look to the U.S. or U.K. straight away for help. I don't think our army is funded or trained to actually defend our country - and I don't think they need to be. We have enough bigger friends to look after us.


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## Smashbox (18 May 2009)

Taken from military.ie


The roles assigned by Government are:

To defend the State against armed aggression; this being a contingency, preparations for its implementation will depend on an ongoing Government assessment of threats.
To aid the Civil Power (meaning in practice to assist, when requested, the Garda Síochána, who have primary responsibility for law and order, including the protection of the internal security of the State).
To participate in multinational peace support, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations in support of the United Nations and under UN mandate, including regional security missions authorised by the UN.
To provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State’s obligations as a member of the European Union.
To carry out such other duties as may be assigned to them from time to time e.g. search and rescue, air ambulance service, ministerial air transport service, assistance on the occasion of natural or other disasters, assistance in connection with the maintenance of essential services, assistance in combating oil pollution at sea.


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## QED (18 May 2009)

Smashbox said:


> Taken from military.ie
> 
> 
> The roles assigned by Government are .........................:


 
I also read some of the list from the web-site and Annual Reports. It all sounds very grand and important. BUT, what do the army staff / soldiers actually do in the barracks all day?


i.e. the soldiers in Longford barracks who were moved to Athlone last year. Now they drive down to Athlone in the morning and back again in the evening but what type of work do they do all day and how is it providing us with value for money. 


I am having a bit of a rant about the army - but I'm also genuinely curious as to the '9 to 5' element of the job.


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## Smashbox (18 May 2009)

I have a friend who works in the Athlone barracks... I will text and find out!

I know he is attached to the bomb disposal unit, and they are constantly getting call outs.


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## Caveat (18 May 2009)

Smashbox said:


> I know he is attached to the bomb disposal unit, and they are constantly getting call outs.


 
Really??

_*Constantly*_ getting call outs? Doesn't sound that likely to me I have to say.


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## Smashbox (18 May 2009)

Caveat said:


> Really??
> 
> _*Constantly*_ getting call outs? Doesn't sound that likely to me I have to say.


 
Yes, really.


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## Purple (18 May 2009)

Smashbox said:


> I know he is attached to the bomb disposal unit, and they are constantly getting call outs.



It must be a pain driving to Limerick every day.


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## Smashbox (18 May 2009)

Oh the humour of it all, Purple

I was born in Limerick ya know


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## Purple (18 May 2009)

Smashbox said:


> I was born in Limerick ya know


Ye got out though, didn't ye?


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## baldyman27 (18 May 2009)

Smashbox said:


> I know he is attached to the bomb disposal unit, and they are constantly getting call outs.


 


Purple said:


> It must be a pain driving to Limerick every day.


 


Smashbox said:


> Taken from military.ie
> 
> 
> 
> ...




In this scenario, if the army are to fulfill their purpose, should they not just stay in Athlone?


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## Lex Foutish (18 May 2009)

I proudly served my country as a member of the F.C.A. for many years and it was because of the likes of me that the rest of ye were able to sleep soundly in your beds at night knowing that, if foreign forces tried to invade our fair land, they would be driven back to where they came from by my comrades and I.


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## baldyman27 (18 May 2009)

Lex Foutish said:


> I proudly served my country as a member of the F.C.A.


 
Ah yes, the good old Free Clothes Association.


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## Lex Foutish (18 May 2009)

baldyman27 said:


> Ah yes, the good old Free Clothes Association.


 
I didn't do it for the clothes...or the money!

I just couldn't bear the thought of some enemy General carrying Smashbox off over his shoulder, as part of the spoils of war!!!


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## baldyman27 (18 May 2009)

I'm not sure I'd want my honour defended by a drunken teenager with a rusty .303!


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## Lex Foutish (18 May 2009)

baldyman27 said:


> I'm not sure I'd want my honour defended by a drunken teenager with a rusty .303!


 
I'll have you know that I was more than a 3 star private!!

I always carried a B.A.P. or a Gustav!!!!

And anyway, Smashbox always had a bit of a soft spot for a good looking man in uniform!!!!!


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## contemporary (18 May 2009)

Its a good question. On a daily basis they



provide security for cash vans in transit
provide bomb disposal service which is quite busy in certain gang infested areas, if the gardai have the slightest question they will call out the bomb squad as well as plenty of hoaxes like at the Israeli embassy etc
provide security at government building
provide security at their own barracks (this is 24 hour continuous shift)
provide air transport for various ministers who are too lazy to drive
patrol to prevent illegal fishing (navy but they are all the same)
patrol to prevent drug smuggling, they helped catch the boyos in cork with that massive shipment
train for the overseas peacekeeping missions

General day to day things include maintaining their own telephone and radio systems, canteens, paperwork etc. Strangely enough they have received a number of awards from SEI for green energy saving initiatives.

Sometimes I read for time to time, sack the army they do nothing, so sack 10,000 people is the message. We quite rightly had a fit about 2000 people getting the chop in dell what effect would it be to sack 10,000? the savings on the army budget would quickly be wiped out in dole payments...


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## Ash 22 (18 May 2009)

I wonder how many more millions would have been robbed if the army were not providing cash escorts every day?


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## quarterfloun (19 May 2009)

Am I missing the point?


provide security for cash vans in transit - Why should do the Army do this - this is banks money going from bank a to bank b. - Waste of Public resources.
provide bomb disposal service which is quite busy in certain gang infested areas, if the gardai have the slightest question they will call out the bomb squad as well as plenty of hoaxes like at the Israeli embassy etc - I'm sure the Israelis are better at this than us
provide security at government building - do they deserve protection?
provide security at their own barracks (this is 24 hour continuous shift) - if they were any good they would not need to protect themselves - no-one would attack them
provide air transport for various ministers who are too lazy to drive - says it all
patrol to prevent illegal fishing (navy but they are all the same) - doing a bad job and the fishing policy has killed the fishing anyway - whats left ain't woth protecting
patrol to prevent drug smuggling, they helped catch the boyos in cork with that massive shipment - We have Irish satellites now??? Sub it out to the SAS - no survivors
train for the overseas peacekeeping missions - whoopee - we will protect the Iraquis from the Imperialist Yanks!!
The best argument for the army is that it keeps 10,000 off the minister for unemployments figures. Maybe we'll have a recruitment drive!!!!


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## micmclo (19 May 2009)

edited this out


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## Pique318 (19 May 2009)

Lex Foutish said:


> I proudly served my country as a member of the F.C.A. for many years and it was because of the likes of me that the rest of ye were able to sleep soundly in your beds at night knowing that, if foreign forces tried to invade our fair land, they would be driven back to where they came from by my comrades and I.



Ah, but what if they invaded at lunch ??? Or after 6pm (sneaky feckers, them foreigners )

FCA used to be called Fools Carrying Arms when I was growing up


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## DublinTexas (19 May 2009)

*Provide security for cash vans in transit*
So the protection of a private transaction is done by the Defence Forces? I can understand that it’s getting more dangerous to transport money between banks, but do we really need the Army doing that? In other countries it’s down to the company providing the service or the police. I know we have this notion that our police force should not be armed but wake up and smell the coffee it’s 2009!

*Provide bomb disposal service*
I’m sure the Shin Bet would rather deal with bombs at the Israeli embassy. And as for other bomb disposal, that is clearly a Public Safety issue and needs to be done, especially given that there were more than 100 separate bomb attacks involving crime gangs and dissident paramilitaries in the Dublin region last year. The question however is if trained law enforcement officer would not be better for this, as they not only could dispose but also ensure forensic evidence is secured at the same time. 

*Provide security at government building *
And again that is a law enforcement job or the job of a professional security service but not youngsters with a gun who might cause more harm than good if there is ever a professional attempt to go after our governments buildings. 

*Provide security at their own barracks* (this is 24 hour continuous shift) 
What we don’t have does not need protection.

*Provide air transport for various ministers*
“who are too lazy to drive” is I think the right description. While there are needs to provide ministers with air transport I think this needs scaling down and correct sourcing.

*Patrol to prevent illegal fishing* (navy but they are all the same) 
And again a law enforcement job. However given the state of our fishing industry and the fact that most rules for fishing are EU rules the question arise if this really is the job of the Navy.

*Patrol to prevent drug smuggling*
And again a law enforcement job. I thought we had a customs service (there was even a TV show about our hero customs services staff protecting us from the illegal cigarettes and alcohol from abroad). 

*Train for the overseas peacekeeping missions *
As long as the world cherry picks their so called peace keeping missions (ignore Darfur, ignore Sri Lanka) I sincerely question if someone actually should participate in these.

So in summary the majority of day to day work is law enforcement and not traditional defence work, it looks to me the government uses the defence forces (because they know that the English are not going to invade us again) as a substitution for a modernization of our Law Enforcement apparatus. 

We need to modernize our law enforcement service and bring it into the 21st century, while I have the outmost respect of historical reason to form the Garda Síochána as it currently exists, it is clearly not in a position to deal with the current thread from armed gangs and violent crimes. Sure there has been some limited success recently but overall it’s not able to do what it’s supposed to do. 

Let’s face it, there is very little chance that any conventional war will happen in Ireland (seriously who is going to invade us) so we should discuss what the defence forces are doing not for the sake of cutting jobs or saving money alone but to ensure that law enforcement is strengthened.

I’m all for security but honestly I rather have an M16 in my backyard to protect me myself than to hope that some teenager of the army (who does not work on nights or weekends) will protect me.


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## VOR (19 May 2009)

Someone told me that Lieutenant General Dermot Earley gets paid more than his counterpart in the British Armed Forces. Don't know whether that is true or not but I wouldn't be surprised. If true, this is a ridiclulous position.

I would argue that the Defence Forces play an active and integral role in Ireland's defence and law enforcement (whether right or wrong)
- During the 70's, 80's and 90's they played a key role against terrorism. 
- The Army Rangers (Our SAS) are a highly trained unit who have served the UN in Chad, Somalia, East Tiimor etc. etc. They have also looked after a number of threats within the state.
- The Air Corps provide DAILY cover to cash in transit. You might not see them but they are up there. (I hope we charge enough for this service)
- Next time the Gardai get the blue flu "who you gonna call??"

I will agree that we do not utilise the Defence Forces enough. Driving ministers around is crazy.

It is my opinion that we should be sending the troops out on the streets and out on to our seas more often to patrol problem areas. 
Little thugs might argue with a 17st garda with his hands in his pockets. I can't see them saying too much to a well trained soldier. There was a time when the patrol around Collins Barracks on the Liffey took in a stroll down the quays. This had to be a good thing for the safety of residents in that area.


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## UptheDeise (19 May 2009)

They will be business quite shortly what with all the rioting and looting that will be going on.


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## Sunny (19 May 2009)

Guys, I agree with a lot has been said about costs and roles etc but at the same time, lets not portray our soldiers as a complete waste of space and money. We have a responsibility under the UN to participate in UN missions and to be fair to the Irish army, they have done some great work over the years. They are not off on a jolly. Over 80 soldiers have been killed since 1960 and I don't think their sacrifice should be belittled. You may not agree with what they do or appreciate it but their families do and they deserve some respect.

I would actually spend more money on the navy considering we are and Island with vast territorial waters to protect from illegal fishing (valuable resource) and from drug smugglers.


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## VOR (19 May 2009)

DublinTexas said:


> We need to modernize our law enforcement service and bring it into the 21st century, while I have the outmost respect of historical reason to form the Garda Síochána as it currently exists, it is clearly not in a position to deal with the current thread from armed gangs and violent crimes. Sure there has been some limited success recently but overall it’s not able to do what it’s supposed to do.
> 
> Let’s face it, there is very little chance that any conventional war will happen in Ireland (seriously who is going to invade us) so we should discuss what the defence forces are doing not for the sake of cutting jobs or saving money alone but to ensure that law enforcement is strengthened.


 
Perhaps something like the Gendarmerie that you will see in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Canada etc. etc. It can come under the remit of the Minister of Defence or a Minister for State. This would allow our soldiers to patrol the streets and also serve as peacekeepers when required.


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## QED (19 May 2009)

Sunny said:


> Over 80 soldiers have been killed since 1960 and I don't think their sacrifice should be belittled. You may not agree with what they do or appreciate it but their families do and they deserve some respect.


 

I would never disrespect anyone who has died performing their duties but I don't think it should stop a questioning of the relevence of the army. Many more people have died farming for example but we don't hold up the farmers as heros that should not be criticised?


Why not dramatically change the structure and role of the army and defence forces so ordinary taxpayers get more benefit from their work - I believe the 10,000 generally fit, healthy, well trained young people are an un-tapped resource.


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## Sunny (19 May 2009)

QED said:


> I would never disrespect anyone who has died performing their duties but I don't think it should stop a questioning of the relevence of the army. Many more people have died farming for example but we don't hold up the farmers as heros that should not be criticised?
> 
> 
> Why not dramatically change the structure and role of the army and defence forces so ordinary taxpayers get more benefit from their work - I believe the 10,000 generally fit, healthy, well trained young people are an un-tapped resource.


 
Where did I say the relevance of the army shouldn't be questioned? All I am saying is that they deserve more respect than they have gotten on this thread. For example calling them a 'non-entity' as someone did or in your case comparing someone who dies serving their Country in various war zones around the world with a farmer who suffers a tragic accident.

I already said I agree with a lot of what was said about the costs and roles.


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## Smashbox (19 May 2009)

Lex Foutish said:


> And anyway, Smashbox always had a bit of a soft spot for a good looking man in uniform!!!!!


 
THAT is so true. You capture me so well in that pic


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## BillK (19 May 2009)

Anyone ever read "Tommy" by Kipling?

"It's Tommy this" and "Tommy that"
And "Chuck him out, the brute"
"But it's Thank you, Mr Atkins
When the guns begin to shoot"


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## Lex Foutish (19 May 2009)

Smashbox said:


> THAT is so true. You capture me so well in that pic


 
I think I look pretty good in it, myself!!!


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## S.L.F (19 May 2009)

Lex Foutish said:


> I think I look pretty good in it, myself!!!


 
Yeah that dress really suits you!

I was in the F.C.A. myself for some years!

Good days.


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## Smashbox (19 May 2009)

Lex Foutish said:


> I think I look pretty good in it, myself!!!


 
You always look good Lex, don't mind SLF


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## Lex Foutish (19 May 2009)

Smashbox said:


> You always look good Lex, don't mind SLF


 
Aw, shucks, Smash. You say the sweetest things.  

Don't worry. I'll never let him come between us!!!!!!!! 

************************************************************

S.L.F., I bet the people of Dublin went to sleep at night, knowing that they were in safe hands, when you were in the F.C.A.!!!


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## S.L.F (19 May 2009)

Lex Foutish said:


> S.L.F., I bet the people of Dublin went to sleep at night, knowing that they were in safe hands, when you were in the F.C.A.!!!


 
Hope I didn't hurt your back that day...


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## Lex Foutish (20 May 2009)

We had mostly Infantry in Cork. We were slightly better presented than the Dublin Cavalry, by the looks of things!


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## S.L.F (20 May 2009)

Lex Foutish said:


> We had mostly Infantry in Cork. We were slightly better presented than the Dublin Cavalry, by the looks of things!


 
Yeah the infantry down in Cork really scares most men

[broken link removed]


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## Lex Foutish (20 May 2009)

Looks like things improved after you were promoted!

[broken link removed]


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## Lex Foutish (20 May 2009)

S.L.F said:


> Yeah the infantry down in Cork really scares most men
> 
> [broken link removed]


 
And this is how they turned out a few years later...........................

[broken link removed]


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## contemporary (24 May 2009)

DublinTexas said:


> *Provide security for cash vans in transit*
> So the protection of a private transaction is done by the Defence Forces? I can understand that it’s getting more dangerous to transport money between banks, but do we really need the Army doing that? In other countries it’s down to the company providing the service or the police. I know we have this notion that our police force should not be armed but wake up and smell the coffee it’s 2009!
> 
> *Provide bomb disposal service*
> ...




All valid points, but 10,000 army personal (that 10,000 includes navy and air corps mind you) is a lot cheaper to run than have 10,000 extra gardai, a private in the army earns €452 a week, a new garda earns €548 a week for example, and a lot more as he goes up the scales unlike the army private.

The army do work weekends and nights, just go past any barrack. the ones left open that is.

Im glad you cant have a m16 in you backyard, we can see how easy access to weapons in the US has really helped public security....


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## mathepac (24 May 2009)

8,500 Army
1,144 Navy
850 Air Corps (as per www.military.ie)

As an island nation, does the balance not sound wrong? Would we not be better off with smaller numbers of land-based staff and more guys and gals in ships and planes?

"*Provide security for cash vans in transit*
So the protection of a private transaction is done by the Defence Forces? I can understand that it’s getting more dangerous to transport money between banks, but do we really need the Army doing that? In other countries it’s down to the company providing the service or the police. I know we have this notion that our police force should not be armed but wake up and smell the coffee it’s 2009!"

Apparently the Banks make a contribution to the State in defraying cash-in-transit costs, for Army and Garda personnel. Getting fire-arms licences for private individuals in this country is (thank God) difficult, although protection officers for various visiting heads of state were, by various accounts,  exempted from the licencing requirements.

Some years ago, friends of mine in the Armed Forces (this predates the establishment of the Armed Forces Union) were on the point of refusing to man joint Army-Garda check-points and cash-in-transit protection operations if the Guards were armed.

The lack of safety, proper training and fire-arms awareness displayed at the time by armed Guards was terrifying by all accounts. I believe the Army guys made their thoughts known to their local Army commander at the time, a well known sports personality, and fire-arms training for Guards (provided by the Army ?)  improved afterwards.

Having been a member of various gun-clubs down the years, I think the training given to fire-arms novices by highly trained and experienced volunteer safety officers, serving or retired Army and Garda personnel is exemplary.


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## Complainer (25 May 2009)

mathepac said:


> Some years ago, friends of mine in the Armed Forces (this predates the establishment of the Armed Forces Union) were on the point of refusing to man joint Army-Garda check-points and cash-in-transit protection operations if the Guards were armed.
> 
> The lack of safety, proper training and fire-arms awareness displayed at the time by armed Guards was terrifying by all accounts. I believe the Army guys made their thoughts known to their local Army commander at the time, a well known sports personality, and fire-arms training for Guards (provided by the Army ?)  improved afterwards.


Indeed - If I recall correctly, the official army briefing for soldiers going out on these joint operations started off with something like 'A Guard with a gun is a fool'.


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## Welfarite (25 May 2009)

contemporary said:


> The army do work weekends and nights, just go past any barrack. the ones left open that is.


 

What exactly do they 'work' at, at night-time?

As far as I can determine, the defence forces' main 'job' is to maintain, feed and cloth itself. There are there to defend the country against subversives, drug smugglers, illegal fishermen and-God forbid- anybody mad enough to try and form a coup. 

The question is; are they worth 500m per annum in wages? And then there's the pension costs. Plus costs of feeding, clothing and housing them. I think we could cut down to about 1,000.


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## Ash 22 (26 May 2009)

A barracks cannot close down totally if you have a lot of firearms within so a certain level of security has to be maintained round the clock. I presume a certain amount of their training and manoeuvres etc take place in the night also. I imagine prison security is round the clock. There is probably more that we're not aware of.


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## Welfarite (27 May 2009)

Ash 22 said:


> A barracks cannot close down totally if you have a lot of firearms within so a certain level of security has to be maintained round the clock. I presume a certain amount of their training and manoeuvres etc take place in the night also. I imagine prison security is round the clock. There is probably more that we're not aware of.


 

Bears out my point that the army's job is to maintain itself. As for prison security, that is not a job appropriate to the Defence forces. do they actually do that? Do other country's armies do that for their prisons?


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## contemporary (27 May 2009)

Welfarite said:


> What exactly do they 'work' at, at night-time?
> 
> As far as I can determine, the defence forces' main 'job' is to maintain, feed and cloth itself. There are there to defend the country against subversives, drug smugglers, illegal fishermen and-God forbid- anybody mad enough to try and form a coup.
> 
> The question is; are they worth 500m per annum in wages? And then there's the pension costs. Plus costs of feeding, clothing and housing them. I think we could cut down to about 1,000.



The bomb squad sped past few a few nights ago, i suppose thats one thing they "work" at, at night. unless bombs only go off between 9-5..

Guarding the central banks mint is also a 24 hour job 

They are at protlaoise prison due to the number of terrorists housed there

See below for an interesting read of army activity at the prison, it does go back a bit mind you
[broken link removed]


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## Ash 22 (27 May 2009)

Yes I reckon it would be pretty necessary in Portlaoise certainly.


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## huskerdu (27 May 2009)

Going back to the original question 
The armed forces of any country must be prepared to defend the country - so they train and wait. Very boring job, according a very unscientific and statistically incorrect survey which I carried out of soldiers that I know. 

As has been pointed out, they also perform civil defence duties. 

I dont think this is any different to any other country. 

For example, France has a population of 65m. Their armed forces consists of 
260,000 regular force, 420 regular reservists, 100K civil defence personnel
Of these, approx 36K are abroad on foreign operations at any time on average. 
(Their military budget is 67B$). 

Assuming that the Gendarmes ( civial defence) are busy, the reservists have regular jobs, there must be 224,000 French soldiers training and waiting in Frence military barracks.

Its the same in most countries in peace time


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## Smashbox (27 May 2009)

> The bomb squad sped past few a few nights ago, i suppose thats one thing they "work" at, at night. unless bombs only go off between 9-5..


 
They don't just go out to 'bombs going off'. They have to investigate any suspicious items that may or may not be an explosive device. The guys in Athlone mention they get called out all the time, all over the country, just to investigate.


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## Berlin (29 May 2009)

huskerdu said:


> Going back to the original question
> The armed forces of any country must be prepared to defend the country - so they train and wait. Very boring job, according a very unscientific and statistically incorrect survey which I carried out of soldiers that I know.
> 
> Its the same in most countries in peace time




But is there any point to it? After all, what are the chances of us being invaded by a country with an army small enough for us to beat it?

And is it true that we have the only navy in the world where you can go home for lunch?


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## contemporary (29 May 2009)

Berlin said:


> And is it true that we have the only navy in the world where you can go home for lunch?



Its very true, see this link http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/1008/navy.html  they sailed all the way to Africa and still got back home for dinner that evening


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## BillK (29 May 2009)

You know, Berlin, a pretty big army was (eventually) beaten by a much smaller organisation in 1916 -1921.


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## Berlin (4 Jun 2009)

BillK said:


> You know, Berlin, a pretty big army was (eventually) beaten by a much smaller organisation in 1916 -1921.




Wasn't that pretty big army fighting a pretty big war for most of that time?


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## BillK (4 Jun 2009)

The pretty big war finished in 1918 and the pretty big army could spare about 50 battalions plus auxiliaries for Ireland.

Have a look at "Guerilla Days in Ireland" by Tom Barry, which will give you a good idea of the relative numbers and the difference in levels of armaments.


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## QED (12 Jan 2010)

QED said:


> What do the approx 10,000 employees of the Department of Defence actually do all day? quote]
> 
> I started this thread 7 months ago and while I still believe there is a lot of waste in the Defence Forces, I think I should acknowledge the amount of good work done by them during the recent floods and snow.


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## Leper (12 Jan 2010)

What a stupid question set by QED.  The question is up there with the most brain-dead questions you can get.

Along with protecting the people of this country the army is tagged with working in dangerous conditions like rescuing people in atrocious weather conditions and locations.  The army brings water to people who need it e.g due to the recent floods in Cork.  

The army is laboured with clearing up when there is a bin strike.

When there is civil unrest the army augments the Garda Force.

Remember the Army Bomb Disposal people risk their lives every week.

The army protects our banks, shipment of cash, VIP visitors.

A more interesting question is What does the army not do?

Etc etc.


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## gunnerfitzy (13 Jan 2010)

Leper said:


> What a stupid question set by QED.  The question is up there with the most brain-dead questions you can get.
> 
> Along with protecting the people of this country the army is tagged with working in dangerous conditions like rescuing people in atrocious weather conditions and locations.  The army brings water to people who need it e.g due to the recent floods in Cork.
> 
> ...



Leper,

The OP asked a question looking for clarification about the daily tasks of the Defence Forces. I would not describe the question as stupid in any way. I do not know what the daily tasks of every job in the country and would hate to think that any question I may ask about such would be viewed as stupid.

Personally, I would find very little interesting about what the army does *not* do but maybe that because of my 13 years and continuing service.

If anyone has any questions on the Defence Forces I would be happy to answer them if I can.


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## Ash 22 (13 Jan 2010)

They do a very good job peacekeeping abroad.


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## bogle (13 Jan 2010)

I've had dealings with a branch of the military through work in the past. Have to say I found them excellent people - very professional at all levels.


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## D8Lady (15 Jan 2010)

While there may be 850 odd serving overseas, there needs to be huge back up for them -  logistics, training, intelligence (G2? G4? Section). There's always one group training ready to take over from the group that are already there.


  For a very detailed analysis, [broken link removed] is well worth a look. 
  We don’t hear enough about what they do.


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