The Dutch armed forces have a threefold mission: to protect the integrity of the territory of the Netherlands and that of allied countries; to help maintain stability and the international legal order; and to help civil authorities enforce the law, control crises, respond to disasters and provide humanitarian assistance either in the Netherlands or abroad.
Crisis control, disaster response and humanitarian assistance have grown as a part of the armed forces' work in recent years. Every year, thousands of Dutch service personnel are deployed in peace operations around the world, increasingly alongside counterparts from other countries. 1.6% of the Dutch gross domestic product is spent on defence.
Royal Netherlands Navy
To protect the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba and the waters around them, the Navy has a frigate, a battalion of marines and two maritime reconnaissance aircraft permanently stationed in the Caribbean. It can also be deployed to help civil authorities enforce the law, respond to disasters or provide humanitarian assistance either in the Netherlands or abroad.
The Navy commands the operations of the Coastguard around the Netherlands and in the Caribbean. The Coastguard provides a rescue service, inspects fisheries and enforces the rules of the sea. The Navy cooperates closely with the navies of Belgium and the United Kingdom. And Dutch naval vessels are permanently attached to NATO's standing forces and fleet of minesweepers.
The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is part of the Navy. It is a versatile and rapidly deployable expeditionary force that can be sent in to defend the territory of NATO countries, control crises, keep peace and provide humanitarian assistance. Its Special Support Team can be deployed to combat terrorists at the request of the Ministry of Justice.
Ships and planes
The Navy has frigates, supply vessels and an amphibious transporter: the backbone of the Dutch fleet. Other Navy units are the Mine Countermeasures Service and the Submarine Service.
The Naval Air Service has reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters. Reconnaissance aircraft reconnoitre large areas of land and sea. Maritime helicopters can operate either from the shore or from vessels. Helicopters stationed on vessels are equipped to attack submarines, and those stationed on shore conduct transport flights, reconnaissance activities and rescue missions.
Royal Netherlands Army
For the Army, it is becoming increasingly important to make a worldwide contribution to peace, security and stability by providing crisis control, humanitarian assistance or disaster response. The Army often operates jointly with the Navy and the Air Force.
For the past 50 years, the Army has worked closely with the armies of our NATO allies – all the more so in recent years. Since August 1995, for instance, all the Army's combat units have been part of the joint German-Dutch (GE-NL) Army Corps, based in Münster, Germany. The Army also works closely with the British army and is developing ties with NATO's new member states.
Dutch army units operate increasingly in crisis areas outside NATO territory. Depending on the situation, the Army can deploy specialist units to provide humanitarian aid or respond to disasters. Their duties may include distributing food and medicine, providing technical or logistical aid or giving training in land mine clearance.
Troops are also sent in groups or individually to monitor peace settlements and ceasefires. Dutch brigades and battalions take part in international missions to ensure that peace settlements and ceasefires are observed. Finally, the Army regularly provides troops and materiel to voluntary organisations at their request.
Royal Netherlands Air Force
The Air Force can be deployed rapidly anywhere for various purposes. It conducts peace and humanitarian operations in the Netherlands and abroad. It can also take military action, or threaten to do so, in order to maintain stability and the international legal order.
The Air Force helps civil authorities, in the Netherlands or abroad, to enforce the law and respond to disasters. And it helps maintain the integrity of the air space and territory of the Netherlands and allied countries.
The Air Force has advanced equipment and well trained personnel. Its F-16 fighter aircraft can be deployed in advanced air defence, precision attacks on ground targets and aerial reconnaissance. It deploys transport and fighter aircraft in the Netherlands and abroad for various purposes, including reconnaissance, attacking ground targets, transporting personnel and equipment, evacuating medical patients and others in need, and rescuing persons in distress. Its air transport and tanker fleet helps keep the Dutch armed forces tactically and strategically mobile – an increasingly important task.
Royal Netherlands Military Constabulary
Since 25 March 1998, the Military Constabulary has been the Netherlands' fourth armed force. Although it falls under the Ministry of Defence, it performs most of its policing tasks under the responsibility of other ministries, principally Justice and the Interior.
The Military Constabulary is divided into six districts in the Netherlands. It also operates abroad, protecting embassies and other buildings and accompanying Dutch service personnel on peace missions. The Military Constabulary is a police force operating in both military and civilian spheres. It serves as a police force for the Navy, Army and Air Force. It also performs police and security tasks at Dutch airports, where it combats drug smuggling together with the fiscal investigation services.
In addition, it is sometimes deployed to help civilian police forces maintain public order (for instance in riot squads) and to investigate offences. The Military Constabulary is responsible for guarding members of the Royal House and the Prime Minister's official residence. It also escorts armoured transports for De Nederlandsche Bank (the Dutch central bank).
Schengen Agreement
When the Schengen Agreement came into force in 1994, border controls disappeared between ten countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The Royal Netherlands Military Constabulary therefore no longer checks the identities of persons crossing the country's eastern and southern borders, but it does conduct mobile checks on highways crossing the national borders and on international trains.
The Military Constabulary's other main task is to check the identity of persons entering the Netherlands from outside the Schengen Area at the country's airports and seaports (except Rotterdam). Arising from this task, the Military Constabulary is also responsible for dealing with asylum seekers on arrival and for deporting undesirable aliens.
Defence Interservice Command
The Defence Interservice Command (DICO), set up in April 1996, is an independent entity existing alongside the armed forces. It has a staff of 5,000. The DICO is the Ministry of Defence facilities service. It consists of two agencies and thirteen self-funding units, all offering products and services to the armed forces. The DICO, for instance, pays the armed forces' salaries, provides training, manages their buildings, equips them with computers and regulates their transport.
For more information on the topics discussed in this chapter, contact the Ministry of Defence: www.mindef.nl
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