Boats, big bangs and even a chainsaw. It was all discussed during the exercise of the Airmobile Brigade Arnhem in the municipality of De Wolden. This week, Defense is conducting two actions in the area and today the first was in the village of De Wijk. A fire station was taken with thirty soldiers.
With three boats, the platoon arrived through the canal behind the fire station. When getting out, quite a few shots were fired, then the group went at a rapid pace to the door of the fire station. There the door was not kicked in, but opened provisionally with a chainsaw
“The aim was to capture and seize the barracks,” says Captain Tjerk of the Airmobile Brigade. “Several people were brought to safety inside and the ultimate aim was to hand over the barracks safely to the local authorities.”
The platoon of soldiers must be able to prepare for different situations. According to the captain, Defense therefore always tries to practice as realistically as possible, for example at a fire station. “So then it is a precondition to make it look as real as possible. If someone, so to speak, is hit during the exercise, then a medic must actually come.”
The brigade comes from Arnhem, so Drenthe does not seem the most obvious place. But according to the Captain, a conscious choice was made to come and train in our province. “The facilities here are perfect. We can perform almost the same actions, as on the Defense training grounds. The advantage of this is that we are not familiar with the environment at all. That is also the best way to train.”