November 1966 almost 19 years in age I volunteered the Royal Netherlands Navy for the time of six years. First location I was ordered to appear was the naval base MOK at Hollandse Rading, a small village near Hilversum. Here, people got their first basic military training and the necessary medical treatment for military man. Besides that the art of seamanship was learned like rope work, map and compass, sailing, rowing, the rules of navigation etc. Team work and a lot of sport was given too. Apart from that lessons were followed in the organization of the navy like ranks, history, the basics of military justice like your rights and duties and particular navy customs. At the end of the training two major tests were given that had to be successfully finished like the long march packed with all kind of stuff on your back and a rowing trip over the river Vecht and the lakes of Loosdrecht. Much later in the training sailing lessons were given in B-2 boats at the Waddenzee near Den Helder. Extinguish a fire aboard a ship was learned in a real part of a ship that stood near the harbour location in Den Helder. The name of that ships part was "pyromaniac". At fort Erfprins in Den Helder lessons were given in the protection against nuclear - biological - chemical warfare, known as NBC. The heraldic of the MOK is shown above. The device in Latin reads: "Constantia et fide" meaning: by firmness and loyalty. After the closing of the base MOK in 1987 the heraldic was handed over to the EMMV at Den Helder which is now the centre of basic military training for the Royal Netherlands Navy.


   

                  

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