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Speech by the Netherlands Chief of Defen ce, Admiral Rob Bauer Berlin Security Conference November 28 th, 2018 Deep integration: what does it mean to literally join forces? Ladies and gentlemen, dear military colleagues, It is an honour to speak to you today. And it is a pleasure to do so right after my esteemed colleague and friend General Eberhard Zorn. General Zorn has just convinced us once more that we should walk together on the path to peace. Friendship is a very powerful concept. It can overcome many problems, also from a very different and less friendly history. But friendship requires two or more parties and the deliberate choice to form such a bond. So it is not so much a question of whether we should work together, but a question of how we can make working together a success. 1 As we all know, views on European defence are changing. In the past, a lack of consensus was often used as a showstopper. But the world is changing. And we are all striving to improve our readiness to face current and future threats, whilst taking into account the principles of national sovereignty. What I want to talk to you about today is how we can maximize essential military capabilities… … whilst making sure military investments are put to optimal use… … and without losing national sovereignty. (...) The topic I want to talk to you about today is ‘deep integration’. And that term may sound scary to some. Because it sounds as if you may be losing control. 2 But I’m here to tell you that it is quite the opposite. Deep integration can help you to become stronger. It can help you to gain knowledge. To gain capabilities. And to gain power. It is a form of smart international defence. And it is a way in which we can deliver better on our promises to NATO. (…) That being said, I have to add that deep integration is not easy… It is a process of give and take. It requires deep investments. Not just in terms of money. But, more importantly, in terms of relations. And above all: it requires trust. 3 (…) Luckily, over the past few decades a number of nations have proven that they can make this a success. Germany and the Netherlands are part of this group. You could even argue that we are pioneers in this area. So what I want to do is to give you some examples of how this, the deep integration, works in practice. To share with you how deep integration has helped us. But also to share some of the challenges we encountered. (…) One example that I’d like to start with is 414 Tank Battalion, a mixed German-Dutch tank battalion consisting of around 400 soldiers. The structure of this integration, is basically the structure of a Matryoshka doll. A Dutch company, using German materiel (Leopard2 tanks), 4 ... is part of a German tank battalion, ... which in turn is part of a Dutch brigade, ... that falls under the command of a German Panzer division. The integration reaches the level where – in exercises and training – we have German and Dutch soldiers operating the same tank. They have aligned procedures, techniques and tactics. So procedural and technical interoperability is established. And they have now reached the third stage of integration: cultural interoperability. (...) One would think that, because we are neighbours, we are very similar and that cultural differences would be practically non-existent. (I’m sure there’s not a Dutch person in the world who hasn’t, at some point, been identified as German, when they’re on holiday. To everybody else: we’re basically interchangeable....) And sure… we all like beer, bratwurst and bitterballen. 5 But in military operations… that only gets you so far :-) In working together on a day-to-day basis, these Dutch and German servicemen and women discovered that they are more different than they thought… For instance: if a German commander is handed two options and he decides to go right, everybody will follow him. Even if his team encounters difficulties on that route, they will make sure they find a way to stick to the plan. Whereas… when a Dutch commander makes the decision to go right… that decision is very often considered the starting point for a discussion on the risks and benefits of left versus right. And even after everybody decides to go right, Dutch soldiers will always continue to develop new ideas and insights… which they are not afraid to share. Another example: giving feedback. In German training sessions, if your superior sees that you are making a mistake, he/she will tell you right away. 6 Whereas, in Dutch training sessions, that superior will let you make that mistake (and several subsequent mistakes) and then ask you at the end of the day the deadliest of all questions: “So, how do YOU think it went?” Needless to say, this is a completely different way of working. Not better, not worse, just different. And of course, the examples I´m giving to you today are not true for EVERY Dutch soldier, or EVERY German soldier. But they do demonstrate that there are real cultural differences, even between neighbouring countries. If you want to achieve interoperability, you have to deal with these differences as well. I am proud to say that 414 Tank Battalion has found ways to incorporate both cultures and develop its own unique character. You could say, they have found a way to combine the best of both worlds. For instance: 7 Dutch soldiers are making more of an effort to stick to the staff process for decision-making. And German soldiers are finding ways to use their informal network for formal business. And during a recent shooting exercise, one of the company commanders was heard giving radio orders in a mixed language that can only be described as ‘Germutch’ or ‘Durman’. … and still everybody understood him. (…) Getting better at cultural interoperability is not about changing who you are. It is about realizing who you are. And how you come across. German and the Netherlands soldiers are Waffenbrüder. Brothers in arms, with much to offer one another. There may well be cultural differences… but when it comes down to it: 8 Dutch soldiers appreciate the German way of well-planned structuring. And from what I’ve heard: German soldiers appreciate the Dutch innovative way of thinking and their ability to improvise. We value their politeness. And they value our directness. (…) Achieving this level of deep integration is not something we did overnight. And the process is far from finished. The foundation for our cooperation was laid by the First German Netherlands Corps, now 23 years ago. Since then, Germany and the Netherlands have built on their experiences by integrating the Dutch Airmobile Brigade into the German Division Schnelle Kräfte in 2014. One of the challenges of this integration was: how do we make sure German helicopters can fly with Dutch underslung loads? 9 Until recently, Germany and the Netherlands did not recognize each other’s certification programme. This meant that if you wanted to fly a German load under a Dutch helicopter, a German infantry soldier would have to prepare the load before a Dutch infantry soldier was allowed to hook it to the helicopter. Early on, our soldiers realized that the certification demands were not that different and could in fact be harmonized. But it still took us three years to get this through to the aviation authorities on both sides. Because it meant we had to fully trust each other’s qualification criteria and we had to accept liability for each other’s work. Luckily, we managed to fix this. And as of this year, our certification of underslung loads is harmonized. A win-win situation! (…) German-Netherlands Cooperation is not only focused on land operations. In 2016 Germany and the Netherlands expanded their deep land-based integration to the maritime domain. 10 Our countries became joint users of the joint support ship HNLMS Karel Doorman and we integrated the German Naval Force Protection Battalion (Seebataillon) into the Royal Netherlands Navy. This form of naval integration is already showing concrete results. This year, German and Dutch troops collaborated in the exercise Schneller Adler, where they trained to evacuate German citizens who are in danger in a foreign country. A new – and important – capability for Germany. But the benefits go both ways. Because in working with the Seebataillon, the Dutch Navy is learning new techniques in port security and working with drones. Currently, the German and Dutch navies are working towards participation in the 2020 amphibious task group for the NATO Response Force. And I am confident that they will have much more to show us in the future. (…) 11 Another recent example of Dutch-German integration is in the field of air and missile defence. In April of this year, the German Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Army integrated ground-based air and missile defence units under Dutch command. For now, the integration is mainly at staff level, but it will help us become a reliable and valuable capability for NATO. (…) Our cooperation and integration on land, at sea and in the air has also helped us to increase our output in military missions abroad. In Mali, the Dutch long-range reconnaissance patrol receives invaluable help from the German Heron. This unmanned aerial vehicle flies ahead to a location that the Dutch troops plan to visit. For instance, a village where they want to talk to the tribal leader.

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