The Netherlands and Germany join their army

The German and Dutch officers present felt that it was a historic moment.

On November 30, Commander of the Land Forces Martin Wijnen and his German colleague Alfons Mais signed a statement in Dresden stating that the major combat units of the German and Dutch Army must be fully merged.

The plan marks a milestone in a decade of ever-closer collaboration. In the past decade, two army brigades have already integrated with a German division, a larger group of troops.

Well, it says in the still confidential Common Army Vision Where NRC has taken note of this, the 13th Light Brigade from Oirschot must also come under German command. With this, all Dutch brigades will soon be part of a German division and the Royal Netherlands Army and the German Gentleman the core of their combat power in one bi-national force of three divisions – some 50,000 soldiers.

Achievement

The importance of the Dresden agreements can hardly be overestimated. Although there is cooperation at all levels within NATO, Germany and the Netherlands are the first countries to almost completely merge their land forces. A feat that few people seem to have realized yet, says deputy army commander Jean-Paul Duckers at the army headquarters in Utrecht. “Many people don’t realize how unique it is what we do.”

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Politicians have also not yet made a statement about the planned Tiefintegration. Both the coalition agreement and the Defense Memorandum of 2022 only stipulate that the armed forces of Germany and the Netherlands will further ‘integrate’. In response to the question of what this means, Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren (D66) wrote to the House of Representatives in September that the placement of the 13th Brigade with the German 10th Armored Division “is being investigated”.

In the past year, the Ministry of Defense has been particularly busy with military support to Ukraine and the distribution of the extra billions of euros that have suddenly become available. When asked, a spokesperson for the department says that no political decision has yet been taken. The Common Army Vision is an “intention,” the department said.

The military leadership of both armies is already busy planning. “In the coming year we will integrate the Dutch 13th Light Brigade into the 10th German Panzer Division,” said General Mais in a video message following the signing of the agreements in Dresden. His colleague Wijnen nodded in agreement.

A major German reorganization will take effect on April 1. A good time, it sounds at the headquarters of the land forces in Utrecht, to place the 13th Brigade under command and to mark the German-Dutch integration with military ceremonial.

Daily contact

At this – brand new – army headquarters at the Kromhout barracks, it is not immediately apparent how far the cooperation between the Royal Netherlands Army and the German Lord already progressed. But German officers are already working in Utrecht. Conversely, Dutch staff officers are already active at the German counterpart, the Kommando Heer in Strausberg, under the smoke of Berlin. There are a lot of calls, says Duckers. “There is daily contact.”

The Deputy Commander of the Land Forces witnessed first-hand how cooperation has gained momentum. Both parties, says Duckers, mainly saw benefits. For example, the Netherlands – which sold its last tanks in 2011 – was able to maintain its knowledge and expertise about operating the Leopard 2 thanks to cooperation with Germany. Because the 43rd Mechanized Brigade became part of the 1st Panzer Division, the army has 18 German tanks at its disposal, in a mixed German-Dutch unit.

There is also a lot to gain for the Germans. With the increased threat from the East, the emphasis has again shifted to collective defence, and large army groups such as divisions (10 to 20,000 soldiers) are indispensable for this.

The ready division that the Royal Netherlands Army still had was cut back in 2005. The Bundeswehr still has a divisional structure, but due to cutbacks and a chronic shortage of personnel, the three German divisions are severely understaffed. By ‘hanging’ the three Dutch brigades under the German divisions, a formidable joint army force was created.

‘Sovereignty comes first’

To enable this force to fight as well as possible, the Netherlands and Germany want to remove as many barriers as possible. Germany and the Netherlands still have different weapon systems, but it has been agreed in the Common Army Vision that from now on military equipment will be purchased together as much as possible. The doctrines and regulations of both organizations will also be aligned. As a result, German soldiers will soon be able to shoot with Dutch ammunition and German mechanics will be able to tinker with Dutch vehicles. Although both organizations still have their own money flows, a financial mechanism already exists to quickly settle costs.

For the time being, both armies will keep their own equipment and their own ammunition stocks, says Duckers. “But I don’t rule out that we will also do that together in the future.”

Duckers nods in the affirmative to the question: the only thing that can now be merged are the two army staffs in Utrecht and Strausberg. But the deputy commander of the land forces does not want to speak of a ‘merger’ or ‘takeover’. “We are talking about the cooperation of two completely equal partners, in which the sovereignty of both countries is paramount.”

Dutch staff officers are already active in the German headquarters in Strausberg, near Berlin

The general refers to the 11th Airmobile Brigade, part of a German division since 2014, which provides soldiers for a French-led battalion in Romania, to strengthen NATO’s southern flank.

“We can still do our own missions,” said Duckers. Admittedly, this is now first discussed with the German headquarters. Given the increasing importance of collective defense, this makes sense, says Duckers. “The time when we only participated in war of choice, as in Afghanistan, is behind us. And if you take allied defense seriously, you should be able to put something on the mat when it comes down to it. Then you cannot say: unfortunately, our units are in Farawayistan.”

General Duckers looks at his watch: he has now been talking for more than two hours. On the partition wall behind him hangs a man-sized painting of Prince Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld, dressed in the full uniform of the Dutch cavalry. On the sideboard are three stray flags on wooden feet: two Dutch and one German. He’s been wearing the green suit for almost forty years now, Duckers muses, stirring his coffee. “At the time, I could not possibly have imagined that we would ever take this step.”