1.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
2.
Royal Netherlands Army
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The Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands. The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814—however, its origins back to 1572. Therefore, the Netherlands has one of the oldest standing armies in the world, dating back to the 16th century. It fought during the Napoleonic Wars, World War II, the Indonesian War of Independence, Korean War,2 of 3 Dutch Army Brigades are now under German Command. In 2014 the 11th Airmobile Brigade, was integrated into the German Division of fast forces, also the Dutch 43rd Mechanized Brigade, will be integrated into the 1st Panzer Division of the German army. With the integration starting at the beginning of 2016, and the unit becoming operational at the end of 2019, the Dutch-German military cooperation are seen as an example for setting up a European defense union. The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins back to 1572. Therefore, the Netherlands operates one of the worlds oldest standing armies, the Staatse Leger was replaced by the army of the Batavian Republic in 1795, which in turn was replaced by the army of the Kingdom of Holland in 1806. It fought alongside the French in the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland in 1799 and several campaigns in Germany, Austria, the independent army was disbanded in 1810 when Napoleon decided to reunite Holland into France. The army units became part of the Grande Armée, the present day French 126th Infantry Regiment has Dutch origins. Dutch army elements participated in the French invasion of Russia in 1812, most notable were the actions of the Pontonniers company under Captain Benthien at the Berezina River. New research points out that, contrary to what is currently believed, an independent Dutch army was resurrected by the new Kingdom of the United Netherlands in 1814, following the Orangist uprising against Napoleonic rule in 1813. This new force, the Netherlands Mobile Army, formed a part of the allied army during the Hundred Days Campaign that culminated in the Battle of Waterloo. Units such as Baron Chassés were key in securing victory for the allied army, since 1814, the army have been involved in several military conflicts (Waterloo campaign 1815, several colonial wars 1825–1925, and the Belgian Revolution 1830–1832. At the beginning of the Second World War, the I Corps was the strategic reserve and was located in the Vesting Holland, around The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem. The Royal Netherlands Army was defeated in May 1940 and only began to rise again with the formation of the Princess Irene Brigade Group in exile, in the Far East, the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was defeated by the Japanese in 1942, few elements managed to escape. The army then fought in the Indonesian War of Independence 1945–1949, in Korea in 1950-53, the Royal Netherlands Navy and an army battalion were sent to Korea between 1950 and 1954. In total,3,972 Soldiers were sent to fight the war in Korea,123 died in combat, the I Corps stood watch alongside its NATO allies in Germany during the Cold War
3.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
4.
Oirschot
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Oirschot is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is situated 12 kilometres from the city of Eindhoven and 20 kilometres from the city of Tilburg in the province Noord-Brabant, the municipality had a population of 18,016 in 2014. Oirschot Middelbeers Oostelbeers Spoordonk Westelbeers Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Oirschot, some of the monuments are, The Roman Catholic Church named Sint-Petrus’-Bandenkerk. This 15th- and 16th-century Gothic church is the biggest building in the town of Oirschot, the old town hall build in 1513 in the centre of town Maria-church. A 12th-century Romanesque church in the centre of the town of Oirschot, monastery Nazareth with a chapel in Neoromanesque style. Former Brewery De Kroon built in 1773 Hof van Solms, palace of Arnoldus Feij The Big Chair the biggest chair of Europe, huize Groenenberg, a very fine house built in 1613. Chapel of the Holy Oak, stone chapel dated 1606, zinderend Oirschot Countery & Western weekend There are many more festivals in Oirschot every year. He is member of the political party PvdA, media related to Oirschot at Wikimedia Commons Official website
5.
Rhinoceros
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A rhinoceros, often abbreviated to rhino, is one of any five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae, as well as any of the numerous extinct species. Two of these extant species are native to Africa and three to Southern Asia and they generally eat leafy material, although their ability to ferment food in their hindgut allows them to subsist on more fibrous plant matter, if necessary. Unlike other perissodactyls, the two African species of rhinoceros lack teeth at the front of their mouths, relying instead on their lips to pluck food. Rhinoceros are killed by humans for their horns, which are bought and sold on the market. East Asia, specifically Vietnam, is the largest market for rhino horns, by weight, rhino horns cost as much as gold on the black market. People grind up the horns and then consume them believing the dust has therapeutic properties, the horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails. Both African species and the Sumatran rhinoceros have two horns, while the Indian and Javan rhinoceros have a single horn, the IUCN Red List identifies three of the species as critically endangered. The word rhinoceros is derived through Latin from the Ancient Greek, ῥῑνόκερως, the plural in English is rhinoceros or rhinoceroses. The collective noun for a group of rhinoceroses is crash or herd, the name has been in use since the 14th century. The family Rhinocerotidae consists of four extant genera, Ceratotherium, Dicerorhinus. The living species fall into three categories, the two African species, the white rhinoceros and the black rhinoceros, belong to the tribe Dicerotini, which originated in the middle Miocene, about 14.2 million years ago. The species diverged during the early Pliocene, the main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths – white rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing, whereas black rhinos have long pointed lips for eating foliage. There are two living Rhinocerotini species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros, which diverged from one another about 10 million years ago, the Sumatran rhinoceros is the only surviving representative of the most primitive group, the Dicerorhinini, which emerged in the Miocene. A subspecific hybrid white rhino was bred at the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic in 1977, interspecific hybridisation of black and white rhinoceros has also been confirmed. While the black rhinoceros has 84 chromosomes, all other species have 82 chromosomes. However, chromosomal polymorphism might lead to varying chromosome counts, for instance, in a study there were three northern white rhinoceroses with 81 chromosomes. There are two subspecies of rhinoceros, the southern white rhinoceros and the northern white rhinoceros. As of 2013, the subspecies has a wild population of 20,405 – making them the most abundant rhino subspecies in the world
6.
Dutch language
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
7.
11th Airmobile Brigade (Netherlands)
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Deployment can be as part of NATO or the United Nations. Since 2014, the 11th Airmobile Brigade has been part of the German Special Operations Division, when the Airmobile Brigade, an Army brigade, operates integrated with the Dutch Defence Helicopter Command, an Air Force command, they form the 11th Air Manoeuvre Brigade. Helicopters from the Defence Helicopter Command support 11th Airmobile Brigade with troop transports, attack helicopters are used for reconnaissance, to give air support, and to provide cover for infantry on the ground. When helicopters are used in combination with infantry as parts of an operation it is called an Air assault operation. When troopcarrier helicopters are just used to bring infantry from A to B it is called an Air mobile operation, with attack helicopters performing on their own it is called an Air mechanized operation. When paratroopers are deployed it is called an Airborne operation, the brigade is also able to operate Motorized with heavily armed light armored vehicles. Specially trained units are able to assist Special Forces as a Special Operations Task Group. In 2003 in Poland,2012 in the Netherlands and 2014 in Hungary the brigade had, passing the test it proved to be able to run a brigade operation with the Air Mobile Brigade and Defence Helicopter Command integrated as the 11th Air Manoeuvre Brigade. The worlds security situation changed drastically after the fall of the Berlin wall in 89, in the Netherland arose the need for a rapid reaction force for global operations in the entire warfare spectrum. In 9211 Air Manoeuvre Brigade was created and it became unfavorable for the Dutch government to send drafties on missions and this brigade was put together with volunteers from other units. After 10 years of pioneering the brigade got its operational readiness state in October 2003, the emblem of 11th Airmobile Brigade is a diving Falcon on a maroon shield with two crossed swords underneath. The color is related to the color of the beret, Air assault infantry distinguish itself by the beret and is allowed to wear it after completing the Air assault infantry training. The maroon beret is the standard for air landing troops. The EM stands for Expeditionare Macht, which stands for, Expeditionary Force, Operations can be performed either by foot, using light vehicles or using airlift capabilities from the Airforce. A share of the brigade can be deployed as paratroopers and these forms of airlanding make the brigade effective in operating behind the enemy frontline to occupy strategic locations like bridges till being relieved by mechanized infantry and cavalry. Another task is the destruction of targets, evacuation of personnel. Previously, the brigade also included 11 Mortar company and 11 Air Defense company and their tasks have been taken over by the artillery and anti-aircraft artillery. 20 National Reserves Battalion come under the command of the 11th Airmobile Brigade in 2012, the battalions are the actual boots on the ground
8.
43rd Mechanized Brigade (Netherlands)
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43 Mechanized Brigade is one of the three brigades of the Royal Netherlands Army. The others being the 13th Motorized Brigade and 11th Airmobile Brigade, the brigade has armored and non-armored vehicles to its disposal. The brigade can be used for operations, peacekeeping and ceremonial tasks. On 17 March 2016, the 43rd Mechanized Brigade was integrated into the German 1st Panzer Division, at the same time, the German 414 tank battalion became one of the units in 43 Mechanized Brigade. In this battalion one of the four companies is manned by Dutch personnel with 16 German Leopard 2A6 tanks, the Brigades Headquarters as well as most of the units are located at the Johannes Post Barracks in Havelte, in the province Drenthe
9.
Fennek
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The Turkish company FNSS Defence Systems acquired the right for licence production in 2004. It was developed for both the German Army and Royal Netherlands Army to replace their current vehicles, in April 2000, the prototype vehicle finished field trials and in December 2001 a combined order was placed. 410 were ordered by the Royal Netherlands Army and 222 by the German military, more Fenneks for the German Army will be procured from 2015 on. Germany plans an overall purchase of approximately 300 Fenneks, the first vehicle was delivered to the Netherlands in July 2003 and the first to Germany in December of the same year. The Dutch SP Aerospace company, which produced the Fennek for the Dutch military, was declared bankrupt in August 2004, a new company called Dutch Defence Vehicle Systems was created to continue the production of the vehicles for the Royal Netherlands Army. The Fennek has four wheels with two or four wheel drive. It has a Deutz diesel engine producing 179 kW, giving it a top speed of 115 km/h, tire pressure can be regulated by the driver from inside the vehicle to suit terrain conditions. The primary mission equipment is an observation package mounted on an extendable mast, sensors include a thermal imager, daylight camera and a laser rangefinder. Combined with the vehicles GPS and inertial navigation system the operator can accurately mark targets or points of interest, many Fenneks of the German Army are also equipped with Aladin miniature UAVs. The Royal Netherlands Army also placed an order at the Turkish company Aselsan for 18 Raytheon Stinger surface-to-air missile launchers to be fitted on the Fennek, the launcher in this case is the Stinger Weapon Platform, with four Stinger missiles intended for mid-range air defence. The launcher can be controlled from on board the vehicle, or else remotely as part of an air defense system. On the Dutch Fennek the primary weapon is the 12.7 mm machine gun, the vehicle is protected all-round against 7.62 mm rounds and additional armour can be added if the mission requires. The air conditioning system provides protection against nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, both Germany and the Netherlands have deployed Fennek reconnaissance vehicles to Afghanistan in support of ISAF. On 3 November 2007 a Dutch Fennek was hit by an explosive device killing one. The vehicle and its crew were taking part in an operation targeting the Taliban in the province of Uruzgan, Afghanistan. In another incident a German Fennek was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and its hollow charge jet penetrated the vehicle through the right front wheel rim, passed through the vehicle and blew the left door off the hinge. Thanks to the liner the crew sustained only negligible injuries
10.
Boxer (armoured fighting vehicle)
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The Boxer is a German-Dutch multirole armoured fighting vehicle designed to accomplish a number of operations through the use of installable mission modules. It is produced by the ARTEC GmbH industrial group, and the programme is being managed by OCCAR, overall, Rheinmetall has a 64% stake in the joint venture. Other names are GTK Boxer and MRAV for Multirole Armoured Vehicle, the Boxer is a cooperative European design project aimed at producing the next generation of armoured utility vehicle. Following negotiations, a contract was awarded in November 1999 for eight prototype vehicles, four for Germany, total value of this contract was £70 million. In February 2001, the Netherlands joined the programme and 12 prototypes were built, on 12 December 2002 the GTK/MRAV/PWV was unveiled in Munich, Germany. The second prototype was rolled out and the vehicle was named Boxer, at this time the first production run was to have been for 600 vehicles,200 for each country. In July 2003, shortly after the start of the Iraq war, the first Dutch prototype was delivered in October 2003. Prior to deliveries commencing, the 12 prototypes were put through a series of reliability trials, the Netherlands confirmed the procurement of 200 Boxer in the autumn of 2006, these to replace the M577 and the support variants of the YPR-765 in the Royal Netherlands Army. Deliveries are from 2013 through to 2018, vehicles coming from the Netherlands production line, within the RNLA the baseline Boxer is called the Pantser Wiel Voertuig. On December 13,2006 the German parliament approved the procurement of 272 Boxers for the German Army, to replace shares of its M113, by September 2011, six German Army Boxer had been upgraded to the Boxer A1 standard. From German Army Boxer No 41 all vehicles have been produced to the A1 standard and it is expected that earlier vehicles will be brought up to this configuration. In December 2015 it was announced that Germany had placed a contract for an additional 131 Boxer worth EUR476 million, there are three production/assembly lines for Boxer, one in the Netherlands and two in Germany. In August 2016 Lithuania placed a EUR390 million contract for 88 Boxer, most of these in IFV configuration, Lithuanian Boxers will be manufactured by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall with deliveries running from 2017 through to 2021. In Lithuanian service, Boxer will be known as Vilkas, the Boxer is an eight-wheeled multirole vehicle, which at the time of its development easily dwarfed most contemporary vehicles with its size. With a combat weight of 33 tonnes, it was also about 10 tonnes heavier than many of its contemporaries, Boxer consists of two key elements, the platform/drive-line and the removable mission module. The platform has the driver located front right, with the pack to the left. The MTU/Allison powerpack can be replaced under field conditions in about 20 minutes and can, if required, Boxer is full-time all-wheel drive, the front four wheels steering. Suspension is double-wishbone coils, independent all round, tyres are 405/80 R27 and a central tyre inflation system and run-flat inserts are fitted
Netherlands
13th Light Brigade in Oirschot