Samenvatting

In March 1997 the department of Military Operational Sciences of the Royal Netherlands Academy sent out a questionnaire to members of the Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) and Air Force (RNLAF). The purpose of this questionnaire was to try and find out how their soldiers were being trained in the use of Rule of Engagement (ROE), if the ROE were clear to those people who were sent out and how they applied the ROE during their actual deployment. Quiestions were asked too about changes in the ROE during operations, their cooperation with military personnel of other nations and about ROE violations. Most of the respondents recognized the tension wich existed between their mission objectives on the one hand and, on the other hand, the powers and means which they had been given. These and other findings from the questionnaore will be discussed in this article, preceded by a more detailed definition of ROE.