General Gert-Jan Kooij was the highest army boss in Brabant for more than four years. Now he’s saying goodbye. As commander in Oirschot he experienced the biggest change in times. This was triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His message to the troops: “the world is on fire.” His men adopted this slogan en masse and in unison.
“It’s great that you are here,” says General Kooij. His voice echoes over the hot sandy plain of the Oirschotse Heide. About a thousand men and women are standing in a tight line this Friday, surrounded by armored cars and rocket artillery. A drone buzzes above the forest. This is what the general wanted: to be seen off in the field.
General Gert-Jan Kooij was appointed commander of the 13 Light Brigade in Oirschot more than four years ago. There was an uncertain future scenario. The brigade was on a list for cuts. That turned out completely differently.
Focus
On February 24, 2022, Russia began the invasion of neighboring Ukraine. A day later, Kooij started working as chief executive of Oirschot and addressed his men. “I told them: I don’t have to say anything. This is it.”
For Kooij, the ‘brutal illegal invasion of Ukraine’ represents a historic turning point for the world and the armed forces. “The reason is of course terrible, but from that moment on we got a focus. The race was provided to us for free.”
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For years, all attention was focused on Iraq, Afghanistan and Mali. Now it shifted to Eastern Europe. A bit like the old days, but still different. “During the Cold War, the NATO border was in the middle of Germany, now 1,500 kilometers away,” Kooij emphasizes.
Dutch soldiers have to go there if war breaks out. That’s what they practice for. They have to leave the gate ten days after the alarm is raised. The stopwatch is running again, because the next exercise is about to start.
Inflatable tank
These are complicated operations involving thousands of soldiers and a lot of equipment. That is why it is learning, innovating and improving. “The brigade is being supplemented with new capabilities,” says Kooij. They recently presented NATO’s first drone team.
But they really try everything. On the sandy plain there is a Fennek armored car with chicken wire and chains to stop drones, like in Ukraine. “That cage is a test, a prototype at that,” says the general. They also already have a kind of ‘inflatable tank’ to mislead the enemy. At Oirschot they also test drones for supplying troops. Kooij calls on the troops to prepare. “We have to be filthy fit.”
Special guests at this change of command are regional mayors, a provincial administrator and German officers from the Tenth German Panzer Division of the Bundeswehr, to which the brigade has belonged since 2023, just like a French unit. “I thank the comrades”, says General Kooij, for their ‘Freundschaft’.
In the meantime, the temperature on the open sandy plain has risen so high that a few soldiers are fainting. But they are literally taken care of, put under the trees for a while and escorted back. Shooting sounds are heard in the distance. Incessantly. It’s just practice, flag transfer or not.
Big cigar
Stefan Linders, from Gassel near Grave, receives that banner. He is also a general. Most recently in an office position. “That takes some getting used to,” he laughs, because he can immediately go on practice for a month. His style? “Prepare for deployment in peace and quiet.”
And then the time has come to be waved goodbye. First the minor song of the genius is heard, with band member Johan Willem Friso. Then Kooij climbs on top of a Fennek battle car, with a big cigar in his mouth. While driving around, there is incessant applause, while a drone lays a smokescreen.
