The Defence Forces’ mission is: “To contribute to the security of the State by providing for the military defence of its territorial integrity and to fulfill all roles assigned by Government, through the deployment of well-motivated and effective Defence Forces.” The mission statement identifies the core activity of the Defence Forces, points to a diverse range of additional tasks, which may be assigned by Government, and emphasises the importance of Defence Forces’ personnel and the need for a flexible operational capacity.

When not actually engaged in operations, the object is to train in order to achieve the degree of operational effectiveness, which our ethos and our assigned roles demand.

The Defence Forces consist of a Permanent Defence Force (PDF) and a Reserve Defence Force (RDF). The former is a standing force and provides the primary capabilities for joint military operations at home and combined military Peace Support Operations abroad. Members of the PDF serve overseas with the United Nations on peace keeping missions. Some of the missions where personnel are serving are Kosovo, Lebanon, Afghanistan and the Congo.

The RDF provides the necessary contingent conventional military capability to augment and assist the PDF, when necessary. The Permanent Defence Force consists of an Army, an Air Corps and a Naval Service.

The Permanent Defence Forces (PDF) has strength of approximately 9,500 personnel. These personnel are based throughout the State. The Government has assigned roles to the Defence Forces, which include the defence of the State from armed aggression.

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Video: Engineering with the Defence Forces

COVID-19 and The Defence Forces

Roles undertaken by members of The Defence Forces in this time will include drivers, chefs, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), maintenance crews, engineers and even decontamination teams should the need arise. These teams are also being used to take test samples from those with suspected cases of the Coronavirus.

An initial number of 80 cadets have started rigorous training in Contact Tracing and will support the existing teams around the country. Over the past number of weeks, the 96th Cadet Class have continued to conduct essential Contact Tracing alongside the HSE. Due to the high level of proficiency they have developed, a number of Cadets have now been tasked with conducting Contact Tracing Training.

Circumstances may have recently changed for all of us in Ireland due of the COVID19 crisis but for our Emergency Aeromedical Service it's business as usual. They have responded to multiple patients across the country in the last few weeks working closely with An Garda Síochána, National Ambulance Service (NAS) and others. Helicopters remain on standby to respond to all types of emergencies over this busy period.