The Netherlands-Belgian Operational School has opened its doors at the naval port in Den Helder. This binational centre of expertise conducts 170 different maritime training courses every year, with 2,500 to 3,000 attendees from the Netherlands and abroad.
The school offers many state-of-the-art facilities, including a large multifunctional room, where students can work out tactical scenarios on the floor or which they can use as an auditorium to evaluate exercises. The room can even be transformed into a command centre. With all its advanced information and communications equipment, this Joint Operations Room is identical to those on board Landing Platforms Docks, such as HNLMS Johan de Witt. The school is also to be equipped with a number of simulators for various types of Dutch and Belgian naval vessels.
Among the almost 140 instructors will be personnel from Germany and the United Kingdom as well as the Netherlands and Belgium. The students will come from various countries, including Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Norway and the United States. They will be taught alongside Dutch and Belgian navy personnel.
[mappress] Press Release, December 06, 2013; Image: Defensie