Soldiers can’t wait to enter the melting pot of Chad
But the one thing they have in common is they can’t wait to get to Chad.
For Cork-based Sgt Jonathan Scott, it will be his fourth overseas’ tour. He’s an engineer who will have to protect his colleagues from mines and unexploded shells.
Sgt Scott knows all two well what mines can do. In 1998, on a tour of Lebanon, he was just 600 yards from one when an Israeli soldier stepped on it.
It blew him to pieces, along with four other Israelis.
“The intelligence we have is that we will probably encounter old Russian and Czech-made mines. Some might date back to WWII and that will make them more unstable and dangerous,” the sergeant said.
Private Lynn Ryan, from Ballycullane, Co Wexford, only joined the army last June.
The 20-year-old said: “I just wanted a challenge. I’m looking forward to going over there and helping these people.”
Another private, Eoghan Ahern from Ballyneaty, Co Limerick, also joined up last June. “The furthest I’ve been away is Crete. It was around 30 degrees there and I was hiding in the shade. It will go to over 54 degrees in Chad, with a huge amount of humidity. That’s one of my biggest concerns, but we’ll have to acclimatise,” he said.
Captains Roseanna White and Gillian Collins will form part of the battalion’s civilian liaison team.
For 27-year-old Gillian, from O’Brien’s Bridge, Co Clare, it will be her second overseas mission.
“One of the reasons I’m going is because I’m fluent in French, which is spoken in Chad. I was in Liberia in 2006, so I should be able to get used to the heat quite quickly,” Gillian said.
Roseanna, from Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary was in Kosova last year and has been briefed by UN officials on the culture of Chadeans.
At just 19, Private Patrick O’Mahony from Fair Hill, Cork, is one of the youngest travelling.
“The reason you go and join the army is to help people, like those in Chad. There’s a feel good factor about it,” he said.
