Camp Holland

Kamp Holland is the main Dutch military base on the outskirts of Tarin Kowt, the provincial capital of Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan.

The Dutch are present in Uruzgan as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan.

History

The first group of Dutch military personnel left for Afghanistan in March 2006 in the Deployment Task Force (DTF). They were the quartermasters for the following Dutch forces of the Task Force Uruzgan (TFU) becoming operational in August 2006.

They took over the former US Forward Operating Base (FOB) Ripley, rebuilt the facility to accommodate the Dutch operational needs and renamed it Kamp Holland.

The average strength is 1,200 personnel split over the locations Tarin Kowt and Deh Rawod.

Deployed units

Key

• Task Force Uruzgan - detachment (TFU)
• Tactical Force Elements (TFE)
• Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT)

Units

• TFU-1. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2006 until January 2007 under Colonel T. Vleugels
  • TFE-1. 12th Infantry Battalion (Air Assault); August to November 2006
  • PRT-1. 42nd Tank Battalion Regiment Hussars Prince of Orange; August to November 2006

• TFU-2. 13th Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2007 under Colonel H. van Griensven
  • TFE-2. 17th Infantry Battalion "Prinses Irene Fusiliers"; December 2006 to March 2007
  • PRT-2. 11th Tank Battalion Regiment Hussars of Sytzama; December 2006 to March 2007

• TFU-3. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2007 until January 2008 under Colonel N. Geerts
  • TFE-3. 42nd Infantry Battalion "Limburgse Jagers"; April to July 2007
  • TFE-4. 13th Infantry Regiment "Prince Bernhard Stoottroepen" (Air Assault); August to November 2007
  • PRT-3. 41st Armoured Engineer Battalion; April to September 2007

• TFU-4. 43rd Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2008 under Colonel R. van Harskamp
  • TFE-5. 44th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Johan Willem Friso"; December 2007 to March 2008
  • TFE-6. 45th Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Oranje Gelderland"; April to July 2008
  • PRT-4. 14th Section Field Artillery; October 2007 to March 2008

• TFU-5. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2008 until January 2009 under Colonel C. Matthijssen
  • TFE-7. 11th Infantry Battalion "Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers" (Air Assault) Guards Regiment Grenadiers and Rifles; August to November 2008
  • PRT-5. 11th Armored Engineer Battalion; April to September 2008

• TFU-6. 13th Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2009 under Brigadier General T. Middendorp
  • TFE-8. 12th Infantry Battalion (Air Assault); December 2008 to March 2009
  • TFE-9. 11th Tank Battalion Regiment Hussars of Sytzama; April to July 2009
  • PRT-6. 101st CIS battalion; October 2008 to March 2009

• TFU-7. 11th Airmobile Brigade; August 2009 to January 2010 under Brigadier General Marc van Uhm
  • TFE-10. 17th Infantry Battalion "Prinses Irene Fusiliers"; August to November 2009
  • PRT-7. 11 Section Horse Artillery; April to September 2009

• TFU-8. 43rd Mechanized Brigade; February to July 2010 under Brigadier K. van den Heuvel
  • TFE-11. 13th Infantry Regiment "Prince Bernhard Stoottroepen" (Air Assault); December 2009 to March 2010
  • TFE-12. 42nd Infantry Battalion "Limburgse Jagers" + 13th Infantry Company Marines; April to July 2010
  • PRT-8. 43rd Restoration Company; October 2009 to March 2010
  • PRT-9. 1 CIMIC battalion; April to September 2010

Current situation

As the Task Force Uruzgan (TFU) is a composite unit it consists of various units and specialties of the Dutch armed forces, therefore Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Special Forces and Military Police personnel are completely integrated in the TFU.

The TFU "hard core" is the Battlegroup, consisting of infantry - Dutch Airmobile or Marines btn - and some 155mm mechanized howitsers for firesupport. In case the Battlegroup needs close air support, the Dutch Air Task Force - consisting of F-16 multiroles stationed at Kandahar Airfield and AH-64D Apache combat helicopters stationed at Tarin Kowt- will provide it.

An important item of the overall mission is the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). PRT is responsible for the supervision of all technical and logistical support to rebuild the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The PRT is part of ISAF and is placed under NATO command.

From their Regional Kandahar Hq, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom take their 6-months turns in commanding all NATO military personnel spread over the area.

In December 2009 approximately 1,300 Dutch and 390 Australian personnel were stationed at Kamp Holland.

The Australian 2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-2) is also based at Camp Holland.

MRTF-2 is engaged in reconstruction, mentoring and security operations in Uruzgan Province.

The bulk of the MRTF is composed of elements from the 3rd Brigade (Australia) (Townsville), with support elements drawn from the 1st Brigade (Australia) (Darwin) and from the Navy and Air Force.

MRTF-2 includes 2 Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) whose mission is to assist in the development of the 4th Brigade of the Afghan National Army. Australian soldiers that operate in the OMLTs live with, train and provide support to their Afghan National Army colleagues in patrol bases in Uruzgan Province. In so doing, the OMLTs continue to develop the capability of the 2nd Afghan Kandak and the 4th Afghan Kandak.

MRTF-2 also includes two Combat Teams (CT) which undertake security operations within Uruzgan Province in order to enhance the security environment in the province. These CT's are operationally integrated in the Dutch Battlegroup.

Current use

The base is now home to Combined Team Uruzgan (CTU) consisting of American and Australian troops.

See also

• Provincial Reconstruction Team

References

• Data drawn from Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)

External links

• Photo impression Neth. Marine Corps Kamp Holland 2010.
• Listen live on-line to Uruzgan FM, the local Dutch TFU broadcasting station.
• Dutch MoD info about TFU.
• Video Task Force Uruzgan.
• Video Air Task Force.
• Info about the Australian forces in Uruzgan.