1/2 Björn (left) and Rivan (right) during their next year (photo: Omroep Brabant).
The so -called day in Defense is increasingly popular among young people. Where some young people take a gap year after high school to work in the hospitality industry or make a world trip, more and more young people opt for an (between) year in the army. To get to know the Dutch armed forces in this way. Similarly Björn and Rivan.
Björn (21) from Eindhoven, who completed a physiotherapist training, understands the interest in the year all too well. He is currently at the Air Force in the middle of the year. “What attracted me to the Air Force are the planes. They have always fascinated me. I would really like to be a kite of one of the boxes myself,” he says.
Also for Rivan (19), who comes from the province of Zeeland and is bivouaced in his service year in Brabant, it fits in well with his interests: “I was always busy with sports and being mentally resilient. The year seemed a nice place to further develop this.”
Defense started two years ago with the day, hoping to recruit more young people and thus reduce the shortage of soldiers. According to Patrick van de Koninklijke Air Force, the year is ‘ideally suited for young people who do not yet know exactly what they want, but who want to get to know Defense’.
In this video you can see more about the service year:
Waiting for privacy settings …
During the year you work five days a week as a soldier at the Navy, Army, Air Force or the Marechaussee. The first three months you follow a general education and then you will work for nine months at, for example, a unit or on a ship. “After the basic training you immediately walk with a unit, where you gradually learn a lot and can participate as much as possible,” explains Rivan.
After the year, Björn plans to apply for a kite and in the meantime he will work for the project team of the that year. Rivan misses studying more than he expected during his day: “For this I completed my VWO and during the year you do a lot of practical things. But I still notice that I also miss studying.”
That is why he will go back to school next year. “After my studies I can always come back to Defense and apply as an officer or non -commissioned officer.”
The year: what exactly is it?
Perhaps at the term the year you think of conscription that many people used to fill. The two may look alike in words, but are really something else. For the that year you choose all by yourself. During that year you will be trained, you will become acquainted with the world of Defense and you will get paid for your work.
And that is appreciated, because more young people report to it than there are places. Brabant youth also see such a day. In 2024, 3400 young people in the Netherlands tried to get a place, including 428 from Brabant.
Last year, however, there was only room for 625 participants. For the 2025 batch, 1800 people have registered so far, including 225 people from Brabant.
Due to the enthusiasm among young people and the ambition of Defense to extend to a larger armed forces, there is room for 1250 young people this year.