Koninklijke Militaire School (KMS) is a Dutch military school in the Netherlands training soldiers and non-commissioned officers for 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 ...

History

The KMS began as the Onderofficiers School (OOS), in 1952, in Weert; it was renamed KMS in 1961. The buildings had been constructed just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and had been used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

to station troops after the liberation of the Netherlands. NCOs were formerly trained in the Van Hornekazerne in Weert, but the Dutch government decided to move those facilities to the Jan van Schaffelaerkazerne, in Ermelo, an operation that was completed in 2015. That move gave new life to the military installations in Ermelo, which had suffered severely when the Regiment Infanterie Oranje Gelderland was removed from the base. In 2018 the school in Ermelo was allotted more money to increase the number of graduates by 15% annually.

Program

Lower ranks (soldiers and corporals) learn basic military skills at the Algemene Militaire Opleiding in one of three schools (School Noord in Assen; School Zuid in Oirschot; School Luchtmobiel in Arnhem). NCOs (

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

s to

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

s) are trained in three stages at the KMS in Ermelo. (The

Koninklijke Militaire Academie The Royal Military Academy ( nl, Koninklijke Militaire Academie or ''KMA'') is the service academy for the Dutch Army, the Dutch Air Force and the Royal Marechaussee. Located in Breda, Southern Netherlands, the KMA has trained future officers sin ...

trains commissioned officers.)

Alumni

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de facto ...

, president of

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

* Marco Kroon

References

External links

School website
{{coord missing, Netherlands Educational institutions established in 1952 1952 establishments in the Netherlands Military academies of the Netherlands Education in Gelderland Buildings and structures in Ermelo, Netherlands