Why do we have an army?

DoesNotCompute

Carles Puyol wrote: »

Why do we have an army?

Their primary role seems to be defusing explosive devices that skangers leave littered around housing estates, as far as I can see.

Peregrine

Carles Puyol wrote: »

I now see a reason for the navy. As for the Air Force and army, I still fail to see a point.

First of all, Irish Air Corps and Naval Service, not the Irish Air Force and Navy.

The primary role of the Air Corps is to support the Army, this includes the following:

Observation and Reconnaissance
Local Fire Support - See video
Command and Control
Limited Tactical Mobility and Logistic Support
Casualty Evacuation - Look up Medevac 112 and Air Corps patient transfer, you'll be surprised how many people owe their lives to the Air Corps
In Support of the Naval Service
Maritime Surveillance and Defence - Look up IAC CASA 235 and see video
National Security
Economic Zone Surveillance - Look up IAC CASA 235
Protection of Natural Resources - Look up IAC CASA 235
In Aid to the Civil Power
Maintaining and flying Garda Support Unit Aircraft - Self explanatory
Observation Reconnaissance and Search Operations
Photographic Reconnaissance
Industrial Explosives Escorts
Prisoner Escorts - Self explanatory
Cash Escorts -Self explanatory
Protection of Airspace Operations - Important but impossible with the funding available now

This too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBz377aq968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t82upj4ovjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ_z1PnriyY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvcx6euzqPQ

Amirani

Lapin wrote: »

Two completely different things.

So was US troop deployment in Iraq an intervention or an invasion?

tdv123

To protect the Irish Republic from invading British forces. They usually like to attack from the North.

modo85

Lola18 wrote: »

The f.c.a changed to r.d.f (reserve defence force) years ago and generally do a lot of the **** jobs the p.d.f don't want.

but they are still the f.c.a (free clothes association), my point is if someone is questioning why we have an army he would be better off questioning why we have a reserve army first... please feel free to name one job the fca no sorry the rdf do that the pdf dont

Lapin

NiallSparky wrote: »

So was US troop deployment in Iraq an intervention or an invasion?

Are you seriously comparing the regime of Saddam Hussein with the troubles in Northern Ireland ?

Karl Stein

tdv123 wrote: »

To protect the Irish Republic from invading British forces. They usually like to attack from the North.

That's another thing. There's no point in even countenancing a strong defence force until the British are gone from the island.

Amirani

Lapin wrote: »

Are you seriously comparing the regime of Saddam Hussein with the troubles in Northern Ireland ?

Nope, just asking whether you think US deployment in Iraq was an intervention or an invasion?

bumper234

Lapin wrote: »

Are you seriously comparing the regime of Saddam Hussein with the troubles in Northern Ireland ?

Why was Iraq invaded?

Lola18

I'm not saying the PDF don't do them but if they can help it they avoid the likes of in bad winters spreading ice, and helping transport to hospitals, helping at floods. helping in searches at times, on camp cleaning and kitchen duties can't think of all at the minute. You see more green berets than black at local events and in general especially in summer and winter green berets are rdf.

Larbre34

Why do we have an Army is the question of a person who hasnt bothered to read up on the role of the Defence Forces in the first place. The kind of armchair hero that dismisses as an expensive luxury, state organisations that he knows little about

We have some really poorly arranged and managed state organisations, some incapable policy makers and managers. I also think we have some excellent ones that work well and admirably. I think the Defence Forces are one of those

They carry out all the missions stated earlier with a meagre budget by european standards and they perform with excellence at home and abroad, as noted by the disproportionate command roles they get on UN, EU and NATO/PfP missions.

At home they are vital to back up the Guards, secure important events, protect state assets and interests, carry out cutting edge security and intelligence work at G2 level. Their ceremonial role is as important as it is impressive

I think though the most important thing they do is provide a fantastic example and role model to the community. The officers and troops/sailors/airmen they produce are among the best and most comprehensively trained in the world, and when they carry that back to their families and communities it adds greatly to the country as a whole

The RDF performs the same community involvement role all over the country

I'm only sorry that even in the good times they werent properly equipped to expand their role. The fact that the Republic of Ireland cannot adequately secure and protect its own seas and airspace in the 21st century is an embarrassment and a disgrace. If anything like a 9/11 situation was to happen in our part of the world, the skies over Dublin would be filled with RAF Typhoons, then just about everyone would ask why the Brits had to dig us out. Again.

Guyanachronism

Larbre34 wrote: »

Why do we have an Army is the question of a person who hasnt bothered to read up on the role of the Defence Forces in the first place. The kind of armchair hero that dismisses as an expensive luxury, state organisations that he knows little about

We have some really poorly arranged and managed state organisations, some incapable policy makers and managers. I also think we have some excellent ones that work well and admirably. I think the Defence Forces are one of those

They carry out all the missions stated earlier with a meagre budget by european standards and they perform with excellence at home and abroad, as noted by the disproportionate command roles they get on UN, EU and NATO/PfP missions.

At home they are vital to back up the Guards, secure important events, protect state assets and interests, carry out cutting edge security and intelligence work at G2 level. Their ceremonial role is as important as it is impressive

I think though the most important thing they do is provide a fantastic example and role model to the community. The officers and troops/sailors/airmen they produce are among the best and most comprehensively trained in the world, and when they carry that back to their families and communities it adds greatly to the country as a whole

The RDF performs the same community involvement role all over the country

I'm only sorry that even in the good times they werent properly equipped to expand their role. The fact that the Republic of Ireland cannot adequately secure and protect its own seas and airspace in the 21st century is an embarrassment and a disgrace. If anything like a 9/11 situation was to happen in our part of the world, the skies over Dublin would be filled with RAF Typhoons, then just about everyone would ask why the Brits had to dig us out. Again.

How is a ceremonial role important? It's a bit of an oxymoron.

Lapin

bumper234 wrote: »

Why was Iraq invaded?

We're going off topic here but to answer, Iraq was invaded in order to ensure that a repeat of the first Gulf War didn't occur. There was unfinished business since 1991 and as long as Saddam was still in power, there was always a continued threat to Kuwait.

Couple that with the fact that Iraq was seen as a safe haven for Al'Queda and the Taliban and the misery Saddam inflicted on his own people and you presented with a volatile situation that could not be allowed to persist.

I acknowledge that mistakes were made in the manner in which the Iraqi invasion was carried out but hindsight has 20/20 vision and as long as the political instability continued there something had to be done about it.

Amirani

Lapin wrote: »

Couple that with the fact that Iraq was seen as a safe haven for Al'Queda and the Taliban and the misery Saddam inflicted on his own people and you presented with a volatile situation that could not be allowed to persist.

I agree on the second part, but you couldn't be further from the truth on the first point. Fecking Birmingham was more of a safe haven for the Taliban and Al Queda than Iraq pre-2003.

Lapin

As I said "it was seen as a safe haven" and "hindsight has 20/20 vision".

I just don't think we could have taken our chances with someone like Saddam.

Karl Stein

Lapin wrote: »

Iraq was invaded in order to ensure that a repeat of the first Gulf War didn't occur. There was unfinished business since 1991 and as long as Saddam was still in power, there was always a continued threat to Kuwait.

JFC are you just horribly informed or are you being paid for this? Iraq was invaded because of the trumped up charge of a 45 minute WMD capability. Nothing else. The majority (democracy anyone?) of the people of the UK were steadfastly against the invasion. Across the world the biggest anti-war protests in history took place. The will of the people was ignored.

Couple that with the fact that Iraq was seen as a safe haven for Al'Queda and the Taliban

More bull****.

and the misery Saddam inflicted on his own people and you presented with a volatile situation that could not be allowed to persist.

Most of it as an ally of the west.

as long as the political instability continued there something had to be done about it.

Saddam was allowed to retain power in Iraq after 1991. They could easily have toppled him but the west chose the better-the-devil-you-know approach and betrayed the uprising that was brutally suppressed by Saddam.

bumper234

Lapin wrote: »

Couple that with the fact that Iraq was seen as a safe haven for Al'Queda and the Taliban and the misery Saddam inflicted on his own people and you presented with a volatile situation that could not be allowed to persist.

Couple that with the fact that Ireland was seen as a safe haven for IRA and the INLA and the misery Sinn Fein inflicted on it's own people and you presented with a volatile situation that could not be allowed to persist.

So why did America not invade Ireland?

Dostoevsky

Iraq was invaded in order to ensure that a repeat of the first Gulf War didn't occur. There was unfinished business since 1991 and as long as Saddam was still in power, there was always a continued threat to Kuwait.

Couple that with the fact that Iraq was seen as a safe haven for Al'Queda and the Taliban and the misery Saddam inflicted on his own people and you presented with a volatile situation that could not be allowed to persist.

Four words: "weapons of mass destruction". How can anybody forget them? Every rightwinger going willingly accepted Bush and Blair's claim that Hussein had them. That specific claim was used to justify the US-led invasion. After the war started, both countries admitted there were no such weapons....
As for this nonsense that the US or Britain cared for "the misery Saddam inflicted on his own people" we'd really have to be lobotomised into forgetting that both countries supported his gassing of the Kurds in the 1980s when, to them during the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam was the "good guy". Not to mention that the British directly gassed the Kurds, with Churchill's sanction, in the 1920s.

Oil. Iraq was invaded for its wealth and strategic location. None of this moral nonsense.

Lapin

Cathal Cloch wrote: »

JFC are you just horribly informed or are you being paid for this?

Not being paid at all and not being informed by people like George Galloway either.

Frosty McSnowballs

Jeez,

Some people in here are complete fcuktards!

bumper234

Lapin wrote: »

As I said "it was seen as a safe haven" and "hindsight has 20/20 vision".

I just don't think we could have taken our chances with someone like Saddam.

The fact that Al quaeda are more active in Iraq since Amerca "liberated" the people is beside the point i guess. Yeah let's get the Irish army in here to help us with this war on terror that we created.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Senor Fancy Pants wrote: »

Jeez,

Some people in here are complete fcuktards!

Says the man in the recyclable bin today ~ see, I have my spies

Karl Stein

Lapin wrote: »

Not being paid at all and not being informed by people like George Galloway either.

Ah yes, ignore the valid points raised and attribute them to George Galloway in an attempt to draw attention away from your own lack of intellectual rigour.

Pretty pathetic.

Frosty McSnowballs

Sterling Faint Mirage wrote: »

Says the man in the recyclable bin today ~ see, I have my spies

Ha, you bastard!

Well it couldn't have been you.....you'd have to be in work to have seen me!

I heard someone left half a twix in there!

dr.bollocko

MOD:

Ease up on the personal attacks please.

Local-womanizer

This week in letterkenny general hospital the army have been called in to help with the clean up after extensive flooding has left the hospital unusable cor a few months, 40% of the hospital is shut down.The soldiers involved dont get any extra duty money for this either.

camphor

Trigger Happy wrote: »

To re-word. I lost respect for the Army because they were so weak over a number of decades to insist on correct working conditions for their employees.

If the top brass had kicked up enough of a fuss then surely they would have gotten the proper kit?
There was never anything in the public domain about lack of ear protection until these claims started coming through.

How can we expect the Army to protect the country when they cannot protect their own soldiers?
So yes, I did lose respect for the Army because of these claims.

What do you expect? The spending of every cent in the army is decided by civil servants who operate in Merrion Street.

the_syco

Carles Puyol wrote: »

So what's the point?

You don't support SF by any chance?

ElChe32

To quell the threat from the White Walkers from north of the wall..obviously.

Red Pepper

The army is too big and expensive. The deafness claims were a disgrace. However we do need a small army and the peace keeping work is a credit to them even if they earn a fortune for it. Retirement is too early.