Former Dundalk O.C first female Colonel
THERE were celebrations as a former Dundalk based commanding officer made history as the first woman to be promoted to the rank of ‘Lieutenant Colonel’ within the Irish army.
Lt. Col Maureen O’Brien, who spent several years at the helm of the 27th Infantry Battalion based at Aiken Barracks in Dundalk, proudly accepted her new position - and her place in history- at a ceremony attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny last week.
The Galway native has been a member of the Irish Army since 1983.
Having risen through the ranks, she made headlines in 2009 when she was the first woman to be appointed as deputy commander of an overseas unit, second-in-command of 420 troops from the Western Brigade travelling to peace enforcement duty in Chad. And in 2012 she became the first woman infantry battalion commander when she was appointed officer commanding at the 27th Infantry Battalion at Aiken Barracks in Dundalk.
For the last few years she has held an appointment in the Operations Branch of Defence Forces Headquarters where she was the senior staff officer responsible for EU and Nato/PfP engagement.
Her most recent deployment was as Chief of Operations Planning in a multinational sector headquarters in Lebanon.
Colonel O’Brien now takes up the appointment of Director of Communications and Information Services.