1/4 Students of the NLDA in Breda at Opening Academic Year (Photo: Ministry of Defense)
The national officer training is becoming popular. Air Force, Army and Marechaussee see fuller classes. The Royal Navy even has a record number of first -year students. That became clear at the opening of the academic year of the Dutch Defense Academy in Breda. “You are the generation that responds and gives direction to the threat of the Netherlands,” said Defense Minister Brekelmans in a video message.
The opening of the academic year has been in the big or Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk, Hartje Breda for a while. Close to the castle. All historic land. In the church and under the floor are the graves of the army leaders from the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) who are surrounded by the army leaders of today, the minister emphasized. And from the future.
Army leaders are needed with so much war and threat and sabotage in their own country, Brekelmans said. “Russia wages war and gets support from China, Iran and Noord Korea. They stood shoulder shoulder this week. Imperialism has never been back. Even more than before, we have to be able to deter our opponents.” Brekelmans spoke of a fight against the ‘imperialists and dictators’.
After the Peptalk of the highest political defense boss, some professors and a scientist started debating. Together and with State Secretary and Veteran Gijs Tuinman. About the knowledge and context that they would like to give the students as luggage. And about what the world looked different less than four years ago and how unpredictable the world is.
That is why the officer training must always adjust the lessons. New scenarios and strategies, because the way of waging war changes so quickly. Just look at the use of drones and supersonic missiles. It is all hands on deck.
East
“We need you very much,” said gardener. But he nuances his answer. “We don’t need everyone,” says the State Secretary. “If we unexpectedly have to east, then someone here must keep running the shop.”
Optimism prevails in the corridors of the Grote Kerk: after decades of cuts, more is possible. But the backlog cannot simply be in.
The fact is that the armed forces stands for a major task. “It’s going towards the one hundred thousand employees, ultimately two hundred thousand,” says Professor Patrick Oonincx. So hefty growth.
More students
The Ministry of Defense wants fifty percent more new officers to be ‘delivered’ to the various units in the country in a few years, writes the NLDA commander in the annual report. We are working hard because the number of students is increasing.
This is noticeable, for example, in one of the turnouts of first -year cadets at the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The last time they were about thirty students but now almost sixty men and women.
The Royal Netherlands Navy even has a record number of first -year ‘Adel Brorsten; As they are officially and traditionally called. 150 Adel breasts start their education. That also brings some challenges because you cannot take new students endlessly, simply because there must be enough beds. But there are. And rooms too.
Because the KMA may be an ordinary training institute, just like college or university but with a few major differences: you get a room, a salary and uniform from Defense.
But the cadets and nobility breasts are of course also just young. A Cadet asked State Secretary Tuinman how to deal with all the temptations in a nightlife city like Breda. Gardener laughed. “I also did stupid things.”
The smallest university in a large castle
Every officer of Royal Netherlands Air Force, Army, Marine or Marechaussee is trained by the Dutch Defense Academy. That is a collective name for all kinds of training institutions of the Ministry of Defense. The best known is the KMA Royal Military Academy in Breda. The KMA has been around for almost two hundred years and is sitting at the castle of Breda and in a barracks on the edge of the center.
Nowadays you come in with a VWO diploma. HAVO is also possible in some cases.
The KMA is also called the smallest university in our country. Professors walk around and researchers. In 2024 there were almost five hundred Bachelor students and around 250 who did a master. Some of those master’s students come from the Ministry of Defense itself and have often been with the armed forces for some time.
