Commander Jorrit de Gruijter of Eindhoven Air Base makes no bones about it. “We must seriously take into account a war in which the Netherlands is involved, within three to four years.” Eindhoven Air Base can then play a crucial role. “We are really doing everything we can to be ready.”
The commander wants to open up a book about what we can expect. “That does not mean that there are actually Russians driving through the streets here locally, but it does mean that we are threatened in a different way and that many activities will take place here.”
He expects that the Netherlands will then be hit by non-military means. “Our power grid, for example, is then affected. Or that the internet no longer works. Or the water supply. That threat will therefore manifest itself differently.” Espionage can also take place here, he thinks. “And possibly sabotage. But we try to prevent that together by deterring.”
The commander expects that the role of Eindhoven Air Base will be significant if a large-scale war breaks out. “This air base is one of the points from which people and materials are transported to the east. Think of American units or other NATO units that make a stopover here and are then transferred towards the east. So we expect that a lot of logistics will take place here to ultimately support the conflict towards the east.”
The commander expects that it will be so large-scale that even companies will have to help. “These are, for example, transport companies. Not only in the air, but also on the ground and by sea. From my perspective, of course, it’s about air. The Air Force is having discussions about this with various parties.”
“Training also scares you again.”
The commander applies the principle ‘Fight Tonight‘, or ‘Fight Tonight’. “That’s a piece mindset. Ultimately, we must realize that there may be a fight tonight. Of course we don’t assume that, but we have to be able to do it. And that is also what we are intended for.”
The principle of ‘Fight Tonyht’ will be further expanded at Eindhoven Air Base with ‘Fight Together’, or ‘Fighting Together’. In September there was another major international exercise during operation Falcon Leap. This was an exercise with soldiers from different countries. The air and land forces participated. The aircraft that dropped paratroopers, among other things, always took off from Eindhoven Air Base and returned there.
“You have to train well. As we say: ‘Train hard, fight easy‘ (‘Train hard, Fight easy’, editorial). Training also scares you again. Because then you show what capacity you have. So on the one hand it is good for our people that we are able to do what we have to do. On the other hand, we also show that we are actually capable of it. And as a result we make the threshold for the opponent higher.”
“I’m not even losing sleep over it.”
Due to developments in the world, the commander notices that people view the air base differently. “We really notice the appreciation from the environment. The way people respond to our activities is also much more positive than in the past. You can also see this, for example, in the number of complaints we receive.”
Those complaints have been reduced by a thousand if you compare the past quarter with the same period last year. From 1,500 to 500. “That cannot, of course, just be linked to the fact that people have more understanding of defense. But it does show how well we are connected to that environment.”
The threat of a large-scale war affects the commander a lot. “I really feel that: the responsibility towards my own people, towards my unit and of course also towards my environment and the Netherlands. So we’re really doing everything we can to be ready. Not just today, but also tomorrow. It doesn’t keep me awake at all.”
