The municipality of Westerveld calls on Defense to exercise restraint in military exercises on training grounds. Yesterday, Commander of the Armed Forces Onno Eichelsheim announced that Defense will continue with the exercises, but will refrain from activities that entail a fire hazard.
The Netherlands has been ravaged by wildfires in recent days. Large areas of Defense training grounds also burned down, including at ‘t Harde, Weert and Oirschot. Several small wildfires also raged in Drenthe last week. Where can be seen further on the map.
Military exercises on training grounds will therefore continue, albeit in a modified form. The use of substances that emit flames or sparks, ammunition that emits a lot of heat and cooking activities have been halted.
“Soldiers practice every day, 24/7, and pyrotechnics (equipments that can lead to sparks or flames, ed.) are part of that,” says Henk-Jan Pap, spokesperson for the Johannes Postkazerne in Havelte.
“There are exercises for which we use pyrotechnic aids, but also other types of exercises, such as staying overnight, taking shelter and reading maps.” The latter can continue, says Pap.
State Secretary Derk Boswijk (CDA) of Defense agrees. According to him, soldiers must continue to practice even in times of drought, with stricter protocols. Boswijk wants to do “everything possible” to prevent new wildfires on military training areas.
When asked, the municipality of Westerveld, which includes the training area in Havelte, told RTV Drenthe that it would like to see restraint from Defense in whether or not to allow military exercises to proceed. “We understand the importance of the exercises, especially at this time. At the same time, in this phase we ask our residents, tourists, entrepreneurs and event organizers to be careful because of the wildfire risks and this certainly also applies to Defense.”
“In our view, it would be good to exercise restraint and wait for the investigations before drawing conclusions about whether or not to continue with Defense exercises.”
De Haar training ground is located near Assen. The municipality of Assen also believes that the military exercises require caution. “It is up to the site owners how to deal with this,” a spokesperson said. “We advise to exercise restraint and take measures to prevent wildfires.”
The trade association for campsites and holiday parks HISWA-RECRON also calls on Defense to ‘take their responsibility’, especially at training areas adjacent to recreational areas. The risk of the military exercises is not on the minds of every camping entrepreneur in Drenthe.
“We mainly take our own responsibility,” says Woody van der Heijden, manager of the Laaghalerveld nature camp site, which is located close to the De Haar training ground. “But there are still some green meadows in between. They also don’t shoot live ammunition on that side of the site, so we’re not worried.”
