Kiltoom man takes up Western Brigade top post

Kiltoom resident Ger Aherne was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General as General Officer Commanding the 4th Western Brigade on Tuesday of last week. He was promoted by the Government from the rank of colonel and his new role sees him take responsibility for the army in the west, encompassing the province of Connacht, two Ulster counties of Cavan and Donegal and the Leinster counties of Longford, Westmeath and Offaly. Brig Gen Aherne joined the Defence Forces in 1971 and was commissioned in 1973. An Infantry Officer, he has served in all command and staff appointments at unit, brigade and Defence Forces Headquarters appointments. He was promoted to colonel in 2006 and since that time he has served in Ireland as Provost Marshal and Director of the Military Police Corps, Director of Training, Commandant of the Military College, and most recently as Acting Officer Commanding 4th Western Brigade. Brig Gen Aherne has wide-ranging overseas experience from the Middle East to the Balkans and in Africa. Three six month tours of duty with the Irish Battalion in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were augmented by a two year tour of duty as a Military Observer on the Golan Heights, Beirut and in Syria with UNTSO. In the Balkans he served on secondment for one year with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Croatia, and with the NATO Force (KFOR) in Kosovo. He served as the Force Chief Operations Officer of the UN Forces in Liberia (UNMIL) in 2007/08 and as the Deputy Force Commander of the UN Force in Chad (MINURCAT) for two years in 2009/10, the latter in the rank of Brigadier General. Brig Gen Aherne is a graduate of the Defence Forces Command and Staff course and the Defence Forces Strategic Leadership course. He has instructed at the Canadian Forces International Training School at Kingston, Ontario, and lectured extensively for the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) at San Remo, Italy. A past pupil of Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh in Bishopstown, Cork, Brig Gen Aherne is a B.A. graduate of NUIG. He also holds a Masters in International Relations (L.LM, Hons) from the School of Human Rights, Faculty of Law at NUIG and he is a member of the NUIG Alumni Board. He has been a lifelong member of the GAA as a player, coach and administrator at club, county and national level, and is a former minor All-Ireland winning captain with Cork. A native of Cork city, Brig Gen Aherne is married to Marian and they have three children, John (a serving captain in the Defence Forces), Sarah and Gerald Junior.