Military of the Netherlands

Infobox National Military
country= Netherlands


caption=
branches="Koninklijke Landmacht
Koninklijke Marine,
Koninklijke Luchtmacht
Koninklijke Marechaussee"
age=17
manpower_age=15–49
manpower_data=2005 est.
available= 3,557,918
fit=2,856,691
active= 61,130 (77th)
reaching= 123,584
amount= €8.525.000.000 (2009)
percent_GDP = 1.65% (2009)The military of the Netherlands is composed of four branches, all of which carry the prefix "Koninklijke" (Royal):
* "Koninklijke Landmacht" (KL), the Royal Netherlands Army.
* "Koninklijke Marine" (KM), the Royal Netherlands Navy, including the "Marine-Luchtvaartdienst" (Naval Air Service) and "Korps Mariniers" (Marine Corps).
* "Koninklijke Luchtmacht" (KLu), the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
* "Koninklijke Marechaussee" (KMar), the Royal Military Police, tasks include military police and some civil police duties.

Conscription in the Netherlands was suspended in 1996. All military specialities, except the Submarine service and the Marine Corps, are open to women. The Korps Commandotroepen, the Special Operations Force of the Netherlands Army, is open to women, but because of the extremely high physical and mental demands for initial training, it is found impossible for women to become a commando. The Dutch Ministry of Defence employs 68,000 personnel, including both civilian and military personnel.

Budget rise

The budget for the military in 2007 was €7.7 billion. Several political parties have suggested raising the military expenditure so that it is closer to the NATO standard for military expenditures, which is 2.0% of the GDP. For 2008 there is a budget increase of around €500 million, bringing the budget in 2008 to €8.2 billion. With the agreement to stay in Afghanistan until 2010, another €850 million will be added to the budget over the next years, to compete with the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan. The Budget for 2009 is now around €8.5 billion.

References

*CIA_WFB_2006

ee also

*Netherlands
*Military ranks of the Dutch armed forces

External links

* [http://www.mindef.nl/ Official homepage of the Ministry of Defense]
* [http://www.luchtmacht.nl/ Official homepage of the Royal Netherlands Air Force]
* [http://www.landmacht.nl/ Official homepage of the Royal Netherlands Army]
* [http://www.marine.nl/ Official homepage of the Royal Netherlands Navy]
* [http://www.marechaussee.nl/ Official homepage of the Royal Military Police]
* [http://klu.tigerteam-security.net Military aircraft in the Netherlands]