The Netherlands Special Operations Command (NLD SOCOM) is a joint command of the

Netherlands Armed Forces The Netherlands Armed Forces ( nl, Nederlandse krijgsmacht) are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy (), the Royal Netherlands ...

which is responsible for the planning, command and control, execution and evaluation of all operations conducted by the Dutch

special operations forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

, the ''

Korps Commandotroepen The (KCT) ( en, Commando Corps) is the elite special forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Army. The KCT traces its origins to the Second World War with the founding of No. 2 (Dutch) Troop, and the founding of the during the Indonesian War of I ...

'' (KCT) and the

Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces The Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Forces (NLMARSOF, also simply referred to as MARSOF) is the special forces unit of the Marine Corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. It is one of the three principal units tasked with special operations ...

(NLMARSOF).

History

The establishment of a joint command that would unify the SOF units of the armed forces had been subject of debate for numerous years. The increasing demand for the deployment of SOF added in the 15 years prior to the establishment of a joint command added to this discussion. Therefore, a task force SOCOM was established in 2017 under the command of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Hans Wehren which was due to transform into an operational command. On 5 December 2018, the command was formally founded with a ceremony at

Gilze-Rijen Air Base Gilze-Rijen Air Base ( nl, Vliegbasis Gilze-Rijen, ) is a military base, military military airbase, airbase in the south of Netherlands. It is located between the cities of Breda and Tilburg, which are both in North Brabant. The airport is mainly, ...

. NLD SOCOM reached

full operational capability In military acquisition, full operating capability or full operational capability (FOC) is the completion of a development effort. This is usually preceded by an initial operating capability or initial operational capability (IOC) phase. For the Un ...

on the 2nd October 2020.

Organisation

NLD SOCOM is an operational staff and placed under direct command of the

Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...

due to the strategic impact of its operations. Although NLD SOCOM is responsible for deployments, the SOF units (KCT and NLMARSOF) administratively remain part of their respective

branches A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...

, the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

and the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

. NLD SOCOM cooperates closely with the special operations commands of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

( SOKOM) and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

(

SOR Sor may refer to: * Fernando Sor (1778–1839), Spanish guitarist and composer * Sor, Ariège, a French commune * SOR Libchavy, a Czech bus manufacturer * Sor, Azerbaijan, a village * Sor, Senegal, an offshore island * Sor River, a river in the ...

) in the Composite Special Operations Component Command (C-SOCC). The C-SOCC is a tri-national

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

expeditionary SOF

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

, in 2021 the C-SOCC is responsible for all SOF efforts of the

NATO Response Force The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a high-readiness force comprising land, air, sea and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly. Until February 2022, when NATO activated it in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine,JAMES KITFIEL(1 ...

(NRF21). Within the C-SOCC, the Netherlands is the lead nation of the Composite Special Operations Air Task Group (C-SOATG). In addition, the Netherlands and Belgium will provide a joint Composite Special Operations Maritime Task Group (C-SOMG) in 2026. The three primary units currently operating under NLD SOCOM command are: * ''

'' (KCT): the SOF of the

. *

(NLMARSOF): the SOF of the Netherlands Marine Corps of the

. * 300 Squadron:

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

of the Defence Helicopter Command of the

Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

which is equipped with Eurocopter Cougar AS 532U2 medium transport helicopters. 300 Squadron is due to develop into the primary helicopter unit of NLD SOCOM as SOF AIR.

References

{{reflist Netherlands Armed Forces