Local army chief to retire from military life next month

With new recruits having recently joined the 4th Western Brigade and a battalion from the west shortly departing for Lebanon, local army chief Brigadier General Gerry Hegarty is ending his 41-year military career on a high. The General Officer Commanding (GOC) the 4th Western Brigade will retire next month after a long and varied career, which included commanding the last Irish Battalion to serve in Lebanon after 23 years (in 2001), living in Sarajevo at the time of the massacre at Srebrenicia and being based in Kosovo when the Balkan state declared independence in 2008. For the last three years he has served as the chief of the Western Brigade. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent ahead of his retirement, Brig. Gen. Hegarty said what he will probably be best remembered for was his role as the first Irish general to command a taskforce in a NATO-led mission when he held the post of Commander of the Multi-National Task Force Centre in Kosovo in 2008 when the Balkan state became independent. However, for him the most enjoyable appointment of his career was serving at GOC of the 4th Western Brigade for the last three years. Speaking about the Western Brigade's proud history, he said: "Every troop mission since the Congo, taking in Cyprus, Lebanon, Chad and Kosovo, has been led by a battalion in the west." For Brig. Gen. Hegarty to finish his career as another Western Brigade-led battalion returns to Lebanon is something of a highlight. He told the Westmeath Independent that there have been a number of highlights during his three years in the top job in the west. One of those highlights came this year when the Western Brigade participated in the largest computer generated military exercise in the world. "The big exercise 'Exercise Viking' was a fitting end to my three years here. It was the biggest military computer aided exercise in the world. The headquarters here in the west was at full strength for it and together with six other nations we were run from Stockholm," he said. He added that this exercise proved that Ireland was capable of operating on that level and proved the capabilities were there. Another big highlight of the past three years for Brig. Gen. Hegarty was his visit to Chad where he met with Western Brigade troops who were serving in the central African country at the time. "To see the work they were doing was great. They had established a camp out in the desert and were protecting the refugee camps and conducting long range patrols for days at a time. The moratorium meant there were no overseas missions last year, but now there's the new mission to Lebanon. Soldiers live for overseas, they train for overseas," he said. Of course it's not just overseas service that is important and Brig. Gen. Hegarty has been happy with the performance of Western Brigade troops at home also. "I've always been concerned, as an ex-director of operations, with developing more and more capabilities and I look at what we did at home, in terms of helping out with the fires in Donegal and giving assistance during the flooding and the snow, we needed to do that. From a soldiering point of view we've developed capabilities we didn't have before," he said of the last three years. Asked if there was anything he would like to have done differently during the three years, he said: "The only thing would be if the money was there I would have liked to have more recruits, but we had to work with what we had." Saying that, however, he said he was delighted with the facilities at the barracks in Athlone, Galway and Finner, saying they are second to none. And as he draws a close on his three years as General Officer Commanding the 4th Western Brigade, Brig. Gen. Hegarty is also drawing a close to a long and varied military career, with his most memorable appointment being the post of Commander of the Multi-National Task Force Centre in Kosovo, the first time Ireland commanded a taskforce in a NATO-led mission. He held this post for a year from August 2007 to August 2008 and was in the position on February 17, 2008, when the Albanian Kosovan Government declared independence. It was a historic occasion and after this appointment Brig. Gen. Hegarty said the Irish soldiers were highly regarded in Kosovo and he couldn't praise them enough. Brig. Gen. Hegarty had been already familiar with the Balkans, having served as Senior Military Observer in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia with the UN Preventative Deployment Force between 1995 and 1996. In fact, he was actually based in Sarajevo during the massacre at Srebrenicia in 1995. "That was a rough time for everyone concerned," he said. "It was a time when terrible things were happening in Sarajevo." While Brig. Gen. Hegarty witnessed some of the most historic events in the Balkans, he also experienced history in Lebanon. Being on the final tour of duty in Lebanon in 2001 one of the highlights of his career was the unveiling of a monument to honour those who had lost their lives in Lebanon on Irish peacekeeping missions from 1978 until 2001. "It brought to me a great sense of closure to Lebanon. I think it was a fitting tribute that the Minister was there for the mass," he said. The relatives of the 47 soldiers who died while on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon were in attendance at the mass and Brig. Gen. Hegarty explained that there was military music, Irish music and the last post was played. "It was a very moving moment," he said as he described the monument being unveiled in a location that overlooked the Irish area of operation at sunset. Brig. Gen. Hegarty first served in Lebanon with the 3rd UNIFIL Battalion in 1979 and said many of the locals living in the vicinity of the Irish camp had benefitted economically from the Irish peacekeepers' presence in the country and mentioned that one interpreter had once told him he had put all of his children through college on the strength of the Irish involvement in Lebanon. While Brig. Gen. Hegarty had an extensive overseas career and witnessed many events that are sure to make it into the history books, he has also held some prestigious appointments at home, one of which was Directors of Operations from 2004 to 2006 and was involved in preparations for the mission to Liberia. With such a prestigious career behind him and having been involved in living history on numerous occasions, it is no surprise that Brig. Gen. Hegarty is considering pursuing a degree in history as he retires. "At the moment I'm considering doing a history degree in Trinity. I already have a primary degree in history," he said. "But I'm open to offers." His successor as GOC 4th Western Brigade has not yet been decided, but his words of advice to this person are: "Keep supporting the brigade and keep supporting the troops. I'm sure he'll be successful, the guys here are very supportive and there's a great 'can do' attitude in the west."