Overview
- On October 28 in Harderwijk, the queen trained alongside Koninklijke Marechaussee recruits after briefings at the bivouac site and was received by commander Lieutenant General Annelore Roelofs.
- She took part in casualty-care scenarios, dragging a wounded trainee to safety and applying a tourniquet under instruction as simulated gunfire sounded.
- KMar commanders described her hands-on role as a deliberate visibility move to make military careers more relatable to prospective recruits during personnel shortages.
- Commander Willemijn Arends said intake has grown from about 500 to roughly 1,000 trainees over two years, with plans to expand to 1,300 next year.
- Leadership detailed training changes that shorten the core course to a maximum of 40 weeks with faster placement in practical roles, while the one-year ‘dienjaar’ retains over 80 percent of participants, many as reservists.