1,600 tanks to be prepared – Yanks ready on Dutch soil – US Army reopens storage and maintenance base in the Netherlands

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[I was discussing with one of my Dutch supporters the fact that the USA has many military bases in Europe including nuclear weapons. The US role in Nato, etc. These things are only there because Europe is being kept down. The Europeans have always been able to defend themselves against Russia or anyone else. NATO is in that sense merely an organisation to, as General Ismay put it: "Keep Germany down and Keep Russia out". It's an unnatural arrangement actually. He sent me this translated story about one of the US facilities opening up. He was talking about the USA wanting war with Russia. Jan]

About 1600 American battle tanks, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment will soon be ready on Dutch soil again. The advanced maintenance and storage facility in Eygelshoven, South Limburg, opened its doors for this purpose on Thursday 15 December.

“Activating this location is a proportional step we are taking to defend NATO allies when necessary,” Armed Forces Commander General Tom Middendorp said last week. “After all, our alliance is built on a solid foundation of solidarity and joint support.” The supreme boss opened the military complex together with commander US Army Europe Lieutenant General Ben Hodges and mayor of Kerkrade Jos Som.

The Army Prepositioned Stocks Eygelshoven (APS-E), as the facility is officially called, is the first in a series. Similar depots in Germany and Belgium will also eventually return to their organic destination.

Commanding general US Army Europe Ben Hodges spoke on behalf of the United States of America.

hardware

Most of the American equipment for Eygelshoven will arrive in the course of 2017. This gigantic stock of hardware comes from a so-called Armored Brigade Combat Team in the States. About 100 Dutch Defense employees provide support in Eygelshoven with maintenance and surveillance. A handful of US soldiers are on site engaged in staff affairs, management and maintenance work.

The APS-E site has an area of 27 hectares. 8 warehouses with thousands of square meters of storage space, 32 workshops and 20 washing points. The employees are mainly involved in the storage and maintenance of the tracked and wheeled vehicles, means of communication, electronic equipment and engineering equipment.

American army equipment at POMS Eygelshoven in the 80s and 90s. Photos: POMS Eygelshoven archive.

Overall Review

Eygelshoven saw the light of day in 1984 as an advanced maintenance and storage facility during the Cold War. This function was shared in the Netherlands with 4 other branches in Brunssum, Coevorden, Ter Apel and Vriezenveen. In the event that war broke out between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in Central Europe, American personnel only had to be flown in via Schiphol. They could then collect their howitzers, tanks, armored and wheeled vehicles from the depots to drive in column to the ‘Eastern Front’. After 22 years, the complex in Eygelshoven – the last of the 5 POM sites – closed its doors on September 30, 2006. At the time, the closure was part of a comprehensive overhaul of US equipment storage in Europe.This arose from the reduction of the military presence in Europe and strategic considerations within the Pentagon. More than 200 employees, including about 50 security guards, lost their jobs.

The first American vehicles are already stored in the reopened POMS Eygelshoven.

Cleaning projects

For the past 10 years, the complex has been used on a project basis to thoroughly clean vehicles. As of 2007, 30 maintenance employees have cleaned about 5,500 pieces of American equipment from various European locations in a three-year period. The personnel disassembled the vehicles and thoroughly cleaned them of bacteria, insects, dust and other dirt. The equipment was then reassembled and repaired to be imported by the United States after a strict ‘customs proof’ inspection.

Dutch equipment needs a major overhaul after its deployment in Afghanistan. Photos: archive POMS Eygelshoven

In the 2 following years, the maintenance team of the Logistic Support Unit ‘cleaned’ 80% of the Dutch Defense equipment deployed in Afghanistan. The rest went straight back to the units for a cleaning and refurbishment. After these projects, part of the Defense Payments Office settled on the site for a number of years. At the same time, a new destination was sought. The US military recently reiterated its interest. Now, a year later, the Eygelshoven complex has reopened, ready to pick up its old branch of sport again.