The Netherlands Armed Forces are the military forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The armed forces consist of four service branches:the Royal Netherlands Navy,the Royal Netherlands Army,the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The service branches are supplemented by various joint support organizations. In addition,local conscript forces exist on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curaçao. These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps. The armed forces are part of the Ministry of Defence.
I Corps was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War,longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived precursor during the Waterloo Campaign. It served as the operational component of the British Army of the Rhine during the Cold War,and was tasked with defending West Germany.
Lieutenant General Stanisław Maczek was a Polish tank commander of World War II,whose division was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France,closing the Falaise pocket,resulting in the destruction of 14 German Wehrmacht and SS divisions. A veteran of World War I,the Polish–Ukrainian and Polish–Soviet Wars,Maczek was the commander of Poland's only major armoured formation during the September 1939 campaign,and later commanded a Polish armoured formation in France in 1940. He was the commander of the famous 1st Polish Armoured Division,and later of the I Polish Army Corps under Allied Command in 1942–45.
The Netherlands Marine Corps is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy,one of the four Armed Forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The marines trace their origins to the establishment of the Regiment de Marine on 10 December 1665,by the then grand pensionary of the Dutch Republic,Johan de Witt and famous Admiral Michiel de Ruyter. It is the second-oldest still-active marine corps in the world.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor,the Luchtvaartafdeling of the Dutch Army,which was founded in 1913. The aerobatic display team of the Royal Netherlands Air Force,active from 1979 until 2019,was the Solo Display Team.
The Royal Netherlands Army is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814,its origins date back to 1572,when the Staatse Leger was raised making the Dutch standing army one of the oldest in the world. It fought in the Napoleonic Wars,World War II,the Indonesian War of Independence and the Korean War,as well as served with NATO on the Cold War frontiers in West Germany from the 1950s to the 1990s.
The Royal Netherlands Army Artillery provides artillery support for the Royal Netherlands Army. It is divided into three corps,undertaking two roles:Korps Veldartillerie - Field Artillery and Korps Rijdende Artillerie - Horse Artillery. These two corps undertake the field artillery role. They are equipped primarily with the PzH2000 and were equipped with the M109 howitzer. Until 2013,one regiment retained the traditions of the Veldartillerie and one of the Rijdende Artillerie,with one assigned to each of the army's mechanised brigades.
The Land Component,historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army,is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Jean-Pol Baugnée.
The Fennek,named after the fennec,or LGS Fennek,with LGS being short for Leichter Gepanzerter Spähwagen in German,is a four-wheeled armed reconnaissance vehicle produced by the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Dutch Defence Vehicle Systems. The Turkish company FNSS Defence Systems acquired the right for licence production in 2004. It was developed for both the German Army and Royal Netherlands Army to replace their current vehicles.
The Ministry of Defence is the Dutch ministry responsible for the armed forces of the Netherlands and veterans' affairs. The ministry was created in 1813 as the Ministry of War and in 1928 was combined with the Ministry of the Navy. After World War II in the ministries were separated again,in this period the Minister of War and Minister of the Navy were often the same person and the state secretary for the Navy was responsible for daily affairs of the Royal Netherlands Navy. In 1959 the ministries were merged once again. The ministry is headed by the Minister of Defence,currently Ruben Brekelmans,assisted by the Chief of the Defence,Onno Eichelsheim.
Mart de Kruif MSM is a retired Dutch Lieutenant-general in the Royal Netherlands Army who served as the 3rd Royal Netherlands Army until his retirement in 2016. He was succeeded by lieutenant general Leo Beulen
The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising four Western European Army Corps,during the Cold War as part of NATO's forward defence in western Germany.
Robert Antonius Cornelis "Rob" Bertholee is a retired lieutenant general of the Royal Netherlands Army who served the head of the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) from 2011 to 2018. He previously was Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army from 2008 to 2011. Born in Haarlem,Bertholee is married and has one daughter.
Lieutenant General A.G.D. (Ton) van Osch is a senior Dutch military commander and past Director General of the European Union Military Staff.
The Korps Commandotroepen (KCT) is the elite special forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Army. The KCT traces its origins to the Second World War with the founding of No. 2 (Dutch) Troop,and the founding of the Korps Speciale Troepen during the Indonesian War of Independence. At present,the unit is tasked with conducting the full spectrum of special operations,its principal tasks being direct action,special reconnaissance,military assistance and counter-terrorism.
Martin Wijnen is a retired Dutch Lieutenant-general,who served as the 5th Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army before stepping down in 2024. before this Wijnen served as the Commander of 43 Mechanized Brigade
The current structure of the Royal Netherlands Army is as follows:
Robert Peter Bauer is an officer of the Royal Netherlands Navy who has been serving as Chair of the NATO Military Committee since June 2021,succeeding Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. He previously served as the Chief of Defence from October 2017 to April 2021,and as the Vice Chief of Defence of the Netherlands of the from 1 September 2015 to 13 July 2017. Bauer was also involved in counter-terrorist and anti-piracy operations in the Mediterranean Sea,and in the Horn of Africa.
Onno Eichelsheim is a general in the Royal Netherlands Air Force serving as Chief of Defence of the Netherlands Armed Forces since 15 April 2021. Prior to his post,he served as the Vice Chief of Defence from 1 July 2019 to 8 March 2021.
The Fire Support Command is the artillery arm of the Royal Netherlands Army. The command consists of 41 Artillery Battalion,a staff,the Fire Support School and the artillery training grounds and is part of the Operational Support Command Land.
The Netherlands 
Royal Netherlands Air Force 
Lieutenant General