Military of Aruba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Defense on Aruba is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Military forces that
protect Aruba include the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Netherlands Marine Corps and the Netherlands
Coastguard. There is also a small indigenous "Arubaanse Militie" (ARUMIL) of about platoon strength. All
forces are stationed at Marines Barracks Savaneta.

Contents
1 Early history
2 World War II
3 Present
4 References

Early history
Up to 1929, there were hardly any military forces present on the Dutch Antilles including Aruba. On the 28th
of June 1929 the Venezuelan rebel leader Rafael Simon Urbina attacked Curaao and took several hostages
amongst whom was the governor L.A. Fruytier and the garrisoncommander Borren. They were all taken to
Venezuela where Urbina had hoped to overthrow the Government. His attempt failed and Urbina was taken
prisoner. All hostages were returned to Curaao. Three Dutch soldiers were killed in action during this attack.[1]
After Urbina's attack, the Dutch government decided to station one naval ship ("stationsschip") in the Antilles
permanently. It also decided to raise a volunteer defence corps on both Curaao and Aruba (vrijwilligerskorps
Curaao (VKC) and Vrijwilligerskorps Aruba (VKA)). After World War II, the VKA and VKC were
redesignated Antiliaanse Militie (ANTMIL) which still exists on Curaao. When Aruba obtained its
independence within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1986, the ANTMIL on Aruba was redesignated
Arubaanse militie or ARUMIL.

World War II
For the Kingdom of the Netherlands, World War II started with the invasion of the Netherlands by Germany on
May 10, 1940. Because of the Lago oil refinery at San Nicolas, Aruba was deemed strategically important to
the allied war effort and that same night 180 French marines arrived on Aruba to assist the local military. On
July 6 they were replaced by 120 British soldiers who in turn were replaced by the 4th Battalion Queens Own
Cameron Highlanders in September. In December an artillery unit from the Dutch East Indies army (KNIL)
was also sent to Aruba to improve the defences. Also in December military service became compulsory and the
VKA grew in size. All soldiers were billeted near the oil refinery at Savaneta, the present location of the
marines barracks. Early 1942, the British troops were replaced by over a thousand American soldiers. The
Dutch coastal batteries on Aruba and Curacao engaged U-boats at least three times during World War II, during
the Attack on Aruba in February 1942 and again during the Bombardment of Curacao. Later a Dutch battery on
Curacao engaged another U-boat when it attacked an oil tanker sailing off the island. None of the batteries hit
their targets.[2]

Present
ARUMIL soldiers are volunteers and are led by their own NCOs and officers. The ARUMIL are trained by
Royal Netherlands Marines. When basic training is completed every soldier in the ARUMIL becomes an
Aruban Marine. Basic training and selection takes place on Aruba, most further training takes place in either
the Netherlands or Curaao. ARUMIL officers have to complete the regular Netherlands Marine Corps Officers
training course (Praktische opleiding tot officier der mariniers, POTOM). The ARUMIL platoon works closely
with the Dutch Marines company stationed at Aruba.[3]

An increase of instability in South America, specifically Venezuela, made the Netherlands heighten the security
level and increase monitoring of the Dutch island in cooperation with the United States.

References
1. "S.A.L. (Mongui) Maduro Foundation" (http://www.madurolibrary.org/html/library/unique/urbina.html).
Retrieved 27 September 2014.
2. "Historia di Aruba" (http://www.historiadiaruba.aw/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12
&Itemid=26). Retrieved 27 September 2014.
3. "savariba.com" (http://www.savariba.com/ArubaanseMilitie.html). Retrieved 27 September 2014.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_of_Aruba&oldid=778690310"

This page was last edited on 4 May 2017, at 17:46.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.