Here is the Dutch navy in action, taking down a Somali pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden. Although the intro labels the participants as Dutch sailors, don’t be fooled – the Korps Mariniers are the Marines of the Netherlands. (Having been in both the US Marines & the US Navy, I can understand why they would want me to specify who they are, & by way of explanation, I should quote Field Marshall Montgomery: “A Marine should be sworn to the patient endurance of hardships, like the ancient knights; and it is not the least of these necessary hardships to have to serve with sailors.”)
Just to show that you don’t have to be smart to be a pirate, they take the Dutch boarding party under fire as it approaches. Naturally, the Dutch generously return the greeting.
My bio refers to the fact that I served with a collection of foreign Marine units in my time, either in combined training operations, individual assignments, or being ‘seconded’. I wasn’t assigned to the Korps, but I did some training ops with them, including a time when I was hanging out with the UK Royal Marines. Both the Dutch & British Marines have a long history of combined operations, & together they serve as a combined NATO Marine Command.
Good job with those pirates, guys. QPO
(H/T to Donald Sensing)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome and discussion is open and encouraged. I expect that there will be some occasional disagreement (heaven knows why) or welcome clarification and embellishment, and such are freely solicited.
Consider that all such comments are in the public domain and are expected to be polite, even while contentious. I will delete comments which are ad hominem, as well as those needlessly profane beyond the realm of sputtering incredulity in reaction to some inanity, unless attributed to a quote.
Links to other sources are fine so long as they further the argument or expand on the discussion. All such comments and links are the responsibility of the commenter, and the mere presence herein does not necessarily constitute my agreement.
I will also delete all comments that link to a commercial site.