Discussing the visibility and cultural factors that inf luence the position of women in the armed forces is the object of the study that is presented here. The Netherlands do not have a martial tradition and are believed to have a feminine ‘soft’ culture , but nevertheless women have always been underrepresented. Nowadays …

The collapse of the Soviet Union meant the removal of the main adversary of NATO, and many believed that NATO had become obsolete given its original purpose of countering the Soviet communist threat. The end of the Cold War caused a debate about the future role and the necessity of the Alliance. It soon …

The Dutch Armed forces have seen an enormous change during the last fifteen years. Peace keeping and enforcing have become the major tasks. The amount of troops and equipment has dwindled, so did the yearly budget. The decline of military means is defended by the thesis that quality is more important …

The Dutch Government wishes to participate in peace enforcing missions and stabilizing missions. From the early 1990s onwards, the armed forces have taken part in several of such missions,examples of which are the execution of peace enforcing operations in the Gulf area and peacekeeping missions in former …

Because armed forces are financed by taxpayers money, it is necessary that they are operating in an effective and efficient way. To achieve this, good training is vital. New missions of the Dutch armed forces, for instance in Afghanistan, show that the operational preparedness for tasks is vital. As …

In this article we analyze the ways in which the risks of military missions and the prospects for casualties have made an impact on the deployment of soldiers by the Netherlands. The question is whether the self-image of being a military nation acts as a hindrance to participation when the going gets …

With regard to officer socialization, Sparta represents the old model of military education, which - applied in an intraorganizational and isolated manner - focuses on military skills and an attitude of loyal service to the nation. Athens, on the other hand, stands for an open education in a broad spectrum …

In this article the correlation between the problems military personnel encountered during peacekeeping operations and the deficiencies they experienced during their education/training prior to deployment is analyzed. Education and training should be designed in such a way that the kind of problems soldiers …

In 1999 the Gele Rijders (Yellow Riders), the traditional name for the soldiers of 11 Battalion Horse Artillery, and with them soldiers, hussars, and gunners of numerous other units, were deployed to the municipality of Orahovac in Kosovo. In the evaluation report the Secretary of Defence sent to Parliament …

In this article the author's intention is to acquaint the reader with Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART). After a short sketch of its origin, the organisation, mission, way of operating and manner of deployment will be discussed. The possible deployment of Military Emergency Aid Units will briefly …