Four Irish Defence Forces personnel are to serve at two headquarters of the EU Interim Emergency Multinational Force (IEMF) deploying in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
One Captain and a senior non-commissioned officer will be stationed with the Command Protection Group at the Tactical Headquarters in Entebbe, Uganda. The two, expected to be members or former members of the Army Ranger Wing, will provide protection for the Force Commander.
A senior officer in the Training Cell and one senior (NCO) in the Operations Cell will also serve at the force's operational headquarters (OHQ) in Paris.
The four will take up their appointments next week.
There are now six Defence Forces members committed to the UN/EU missions in the Congo. Two army officers have been serving with MONUC, the United Nations Organisation Mission in the DRC, since July 2001. They are unarmed military observers, stationed at Kisangani and Kindu in the Congo.