Kuod War: The Dutch army must buy winter underwear by itself before the main NATO exercises

The Dutch military experienced an embarrassing wardrobe failure, realizing that soldiers might need warm underwear to carry out the upcoming NATO exercises in Norway. The troops must now shop on their own.

Before the Norwegian Trident ended the 18th exercise, the Ministry of Defence failed to purchase winter coats for its soldiers. On Tuesday, Defense Minister Barbara Vesser admitted that about 1,000 Dutch soldiers preparing to participate in the exercise would have to shop on their own.

Vesser said that there is no shortage of uniforms, and soldiers only need to buy thermal underwear themselves. However, it seems that the department really cares about the quality of the underpants, as each cavalry will receive 1,000 euros ($1,167) to go shopping.

Dutch legislators are angry at this revelation and call it “super shackles” and “strange things.” Some have criticized the minister’s way of dealing with the underwear crisis and expressed doubts about whether these soldiers can buy the right clothes. have.

“Safety is primarily the responsibility of the employer. How does the Secretary of State know that soldiers will buy the right clothes?” said Dutch Congressman Andreas Bosman, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal.

The Ministry of Defence accused the shortage of “time is insufficient” and said that sending soldiers to shop is an “emergency” measure that will not be repeated.

Given the experience of the Dutch NATO forces in Lithuania, it is clear that warm underwear is unnecessary and the weather conditions in Norway have been ignored. When the top executives finally realized that the force might have to operate at sub-zero temperatures, it was too late for the military supplier to purchase the necessary amount of clothing in time.

It is unclear why the Dutch army “lack of time” finds obvious, because Oslo agreed to hold an exercise in early 2015. The 2011 Trident will be held in central and eastern Norway and the north and the Baltic Sea from October to November.

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