Pure Massacre: Soldiers Reflect on the Rwandan Genocide Tapa blanda - 2015

Warrant Officer Class One Kevin 'Irish' O'Halloran was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1961 and migrated to Australia with his parents, elder brother and two sisters in 1970.He enlisted in the Australian Regular Army (ARA) in 1981. Spending his formative years in 1RAR, he saw non-warlike operational service with C Coy as a Bren Gunner and Group Commander in Malaysia in 1983. He was selected to form part of the Australian Bicentennial Royal Guard. The guard mounted ceremonial duties in England, as part of Queen Elizabeth's Bicentennial celebration in April 1988. He again saw non-warlike operational service with A Coy as a Section Commander in Malaysia in 1989. He saw warlike operational service with B Coy 2RAR, as a Pl Sgt in Rwanda from 19th February - 24th August 1995. He saw warlike operational service as the Company Sergeant Major of C Coy 2RAR in East Timor, between October 2001 and May 2002. In June 2005 he served as the acting ARA Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) of the 16th Battalion Royal Western Australia Regiment until the end of that year. In January 2006 he was internally posted as the SSM of Soldier Promotion Section (SPS) Land Warfare Centre Western Australia (LWC-WA). He was promoted to Warrant Officer Class One on in 2006 and took his position as RSM of 16RWAR. Kevin is married to Michelle and we have 2 children, Sean 7 and Siobhan 5 yrs. In an ongoing military career that has reached 26 years of dedicated service Kevin O'halloran has been awarded the following: Infantry Combat Badge (ICB); Australian Active Service Medal (AASM) Rwanda and East Timor Clasps; Australian Service Medal (ASM) South East Asia Clasp; Defence Force Service Medal (DFSM) with 1st & 2nd Clasps; Australian Defence Medal (ADM); United Nations Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) Medal; United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor (UNTAET) Medal; and Return from Active Service Badge.