From the Emerald Isle to the Sandalwood Isle

By Captain John Liston

Lt. Gen. Boonsrang Niumpradit talks to locals in Taroman in one of his visits.

The heart and soul of Ireland is alive and well in the newly emerging nation of East Timor. A platoon of 33 Irish soldiers from the Limerick and Clare - based 12^th Battalion is making sure of that.

Harps, shamrocks and Irish Steyr rifles are stenciled on the walls of the burnt out buildings they occupy in a small village called Taroman nestled along a ridgeline 3km from the border with Indonesian West Timor.

The Irish call their camp Cu Chulainn – named after the mythical warrior who protected Ireland from foreign invaders – it is a constant reminder of their own role in East Timor. As the modern-day heirs to that tradition they are here to protect the East Timorese people from cross-border infiltration by the same armed militia gangs that were responsible for so much terror following the territory’s August 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia which sparked a wave of violence and destruction.

Irish troops first came to East Timor as part of the Australian-led INTERFET (International Force in East Timor) operation in October 1999 and have stayed on to serve with the UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor) Peacekeeping Force (PKF).

They represent a small but significant contribution from a little country which already has 1000 troops serving overseas in Bosnia, Kosovo and Lebanon.

In addition to the platoon in Taroman there are five headquarters staff and two UN Military Observers located elsewhere in Timor and four support staff in Darwin, Australia. A total of 44 personnel commanded by the Senior Irish Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Dermot Cogan, who is also the senior military adviser to the Force Commander.

The platoon area of operations (AO Cu Chulainn) measures about 15 by 20 km. It’s their turf within the district of Cova-Lima which is controlled by NZBATT (or the New Zealand Battalion). The Irish fit easily into NZBATT. They get on well with the 'Kiwis' and work closely with them on operations.

The Irish troops bring to Timor their vast experience of UN operations. All have served in Lebanon and many in the former Yugoslavia. NZBATT also includes soldiers from Fiji and Nepal who have battalions serving in Lebanon with the Irish. When they see an Irishman in Timor they call out their Lebanon greeting to them: “On the ball - Irish”.

But operations in Timor are very different from Lebanon.

This is a peace enforcement operation and maintaining security on the western border is a hard, dangerous business. Two NZBATT soldiers have already been killed in action and earlier this month an Australian peacekeeper was wounded from militia gunfire. The following day one militiaman was killed when his four-man group encountered an AUSBATT (Australian Battalion) patrol post. The remainder withdrew across the border after a short engagement.

But it’s not a battle of statistics or ‘body counts’, it is about the people of East Timor. The Irish peacekeepers' programme of active patrols throughout AO Cu Chulainn is aimed at restricting militia activity and serves as a reassuring presence to the local people. The level of popular support the peacekeepers enjoy will ensure that the militia fails to gain a foothold in Cova-Lima.

“Our presence makes life better for the people and we’ll always help them when we can. We win their ‘hearts and minds’ by our nature,” Corporal Paul Hally, from Kilrush, Co. Tipperary, said

Much of the terrain is very rugged and thickly vegetated. “There are a lot of ups and downs when patrolling these mountains with a full pack on your back" said Number 2 scout Private Eli Brace, from Ennis, Co. Clare. "One time you cross a creek there is no water in it and the next day when you cross it again it is in full flood. But sometimes the jungle gives way to rolling plains of green grass and it’s just like being at home”.

The soldiers enjoy what they call ‘real soldiering’ – being inserted by Royal New Zealand Air Force helicopters, patrolling for up to a week relying on all their infantrymen skills and tactics to operate as an effective team and then being extracted again by helicopter.

“It is the opportunity of a life-time”, Private Brace said. He will celebrate, Christmas, New Year and his twenty-fourth birthday in Timor.

When in camp it is a day of non-stop chores and protection duties.

“The lads are constantly busy, no-body gets a full night’s sleep here,” Sergeant Jerome DeLoughrey, from Cartloe, Co,. Tipperary (but based in Limerick), said “but everybody pulls their weight”. The platoon is a tightly-knit group.

The camp is very basic with hand-filled showers, no flushing toilets and stretchers for beds. The platoon have made Camp Cu Chulainn a home away from home and are constantly developing it for the next troop rotation.

Family in Ireland need not worry however, when back from a patrol the lads get top-class Irish cuisine courtesy of the platoon's two cooks. And some nights a guitar will come out and the soldiers find a bit of time to sing the traditional Irish ballads.

Despite their proximity to the border the soldiers are confident and relaxed. And it is this confidence which is passed onto the Timorese people in AO Cu Chulainn.

“We like to get to know the people in the villages we patrol through,” platoon commander Lieutenant Damien Murphy, from Galway, said, “Our relationship with them comes out with a distinctly Irish flavour”.

The Timorese in Taroman can now live in safety with the knowledge that a well-trained professional force will protect them from the militia terror that they endured little more than a year ago.

The people see the benefits of the peaceful environment created by the UN presence and are rebuilding their houses and sending their children to school because the Irish peacekeepers give them the hope they need to start again.

They are the reason why the people of Taroman can sleep safely at night. "On the ball - Irish"!