The exercise is organized by the 11 Airmobile Brigade and the Defense Helicopter Command. In total, more than a thousand soldiers participate, of which approximately 400 soldiers from Assen. Another group is preparing for the mission in Romania. The Airmobile Brigade is suddenly in the spotlight.
“That’s good for us,” explains Major Maarten Grendel. “I think that contributes to the understanding that people have for exercises. Sometimes there is quite a bit of noise or soldiers suddenly walking through your street, but if people have an idea of why we do this, then that is only for us positive.”
With the exercise, the Ministry of Defense trains the cooperation between helicopter units and ground troops. Grendel: “You can imagine that if you are going to carry out such a complex operation with more than twenty helicopters and with hundreds of soldiers at the same time, that requires a lot of coordination.”
It is striking that the exercise is being held in the Netherlands. In previous years, a location in America was mainly chosen. They did take place in the Netherlands, for example in 2018, but not on such a large scale. “Because you have a lot more space there,” Grendel explains. “In addition, we also practice a lot on military training grounds or in Europe such as Germany, Poland or Romania because the possibilities there are also a bit wider than here.”
More military resources from the American army are used in the exercise than from the Dutch army itself. See what the action looks like in the video.