Dutch soldiers from the 13th Inf. Bn. enter the first building of a training village Nov. 29 in Fort Hood Training Area 22. During the air assault training exercise, Dutch infantry troops searched several buildings in the village, detained opposing f...
FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers from the Royal Netherlands Army are getting to train and work with their air force counterparts. But the training is happening at Fort Hood.
Although Dutch Apache pilots have been training at Fort Hood since 1999, Dutch soldiers have only been coming here for a little more than a year.
The first group of infantry troops came to Fort Hood in May 2010 for a proof of concept exercise.
Aviators and air crews from the Royal Netherlands Air Force have been training here under the Joint Netherlands Training Detachment with a permanent contingent assigned to 21st Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat). When the soldiers are at Fort Hood, they train under the 21st Cav. Bde.'s foreign military training unit as well.
For the Dutch, the collective air force and army training allows members of the two services to work together on tactics, techniques and procedures they would utilize in theater and during contingency operations.
"That's the biggest advantage -- this is really joint training," Maj. Mathieu Van Eupen, executive officer, Joint Netherlands Training Detachment, said. "We get to know each other."
During their five-week training here, the Dutch infantrymen participated in an overnight air assault exercise on Fort Hood's east side, a modern operations on urban terrain course, and a sniper range. Their culminating exercise is being held in Brownwood this week and will allow the soldiers to use all of their skills and tactics practiced during the training.
Dutch soldiers conducted air assault training here because the weather conditions are better and their pilots are trained here.
Foggy, rainy conditions and strict airspace and timeframe restrictions, as well as the lack of wide, open spaces, make training such as that being conducted here a rather difficult experience in the Netherlands, Van Eupen said.
Annual large, combined training events are conducted in Germany, but the small teams training to keep up battalion-level skills are conducted here.
"It's easier to get a company of infantry here to train," Capt. Laurens Van Leussen, company commander, 13th Infantry Battalion, said.
Currently, the Dutch soldiers come to Fort Hood for training on a rotating schedule for five weeks at a time. Each Dutch army company will train here every two years, Van Eupen said.
Fort Hood's landscape and variety of training courses make the Great Place a desirable training venue for the Dutch army.
"These terrain features are ideal," Van Eupen said.
Private Michael Van Vilsteren, an airborne infantryman with the 13th Inf. Bn., said he learned a lot during the air assault training exercise.
"I have been learning a lot about how the Apaches see us, how we see them and how to have open communication (with air assets)," Van Vilsteren said. "The understanding is there."
The private said the training progression from working on their individual skills in the Netherlands to the combined training here with the air force has given him a total picture of the battlefield.
Dutch infantry soldiers especially liked the MOUT sites. The commanders also liked the MOUT and the course's videotape capabilities where the entire exercise could be watched for an after-action review, Van Eupen added.
Officers from the Joint Netherlands Training Detachment handle the AARs, briefings and training scenarios. Their American counterparts schedule the training facilities and coordinate the exercises.
Although they are using Fort Hood facilities, the Dutch troops are here to expand their own training, not adapt to U.S. methods.
"We can't lose focus that this is their training," Maj. Mark Scherbring, foreign military training chief, 21st Cav. Bde., said. "We use their doctrine and their tactics, techniques and procedures."
The current training program with the Netherlands will be expanding in the future as RNLAF Chinook pilots begin training here.
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