Marines of the North Sea

[Tim]

KONINKLIJKE MARINE​

Recipient Subject Security

Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland < Jamie > Regarding joint military exercises with the Royal Marines PRIVATE & ENCRYPTED​

To whom it may concern,

In order to upkeep the readiness of the Korps Mariniers (Marine Corps) and prepare it for possible future joint international missions we are looking to set up a joint exercise program with another European naval infantry force. The Royal Marines are of course one of the first that were thought of when this idea surfaced within our department. This E-mail is an inquiry to whether such a cooperation would be considered possible by the UK Ministry of Defence. If that is the case, I would like to invite a representative from the Ministry of Defence and or the Royal Marines for talks to further discuss this proposal.

Yours sincerely,

Generaal-majoor der Mariniers

E.C. Klop

Korps Mariniers
Koninklijke Marine​

 

[Jamie]

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Royal Marines
Security Classification: TOP SECRET

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Recipient Generaal-majoor der Mariniers, E.C. Klop Tim
Subject RE: Regarding joint military exercises with the Royal Marines

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your email. A prospective relationship between the Royal Marine Corps and Korps Mariniers is something of great interest and certainly something we are open to participating in. Our geographical proximity and our aligning political values would indicate that such a program would be priceless for the benefit our units would both receive. To discuss this further, I would like to open a line of communication that I think an initial video call would be suffice to iron out the details and develop this into a long-term investment. If there is a best time for yourself, I am happy to work around your schedule.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,
Brigadier Stuart Anson,
Royal Marine Commandos

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[Tim]

KONINKLIJKE MARINE​

Recipient Subject Security

Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland < Jamie > RE: Regarding joint military exercises with the Royal Marines PRIVATE & ENCRYPTED​

Dear Brigadier Anson,

A video call would be an ideal way to discuss these plan in my opinion. I still have a gap in my schedule tomorrow at 8:00 AM GMT, I hope this works for you as well. Please let me know wether you will be able to attend at this time so an encrypted video call can be prepared by our technicians.

Yours sincerely,

Generaal-majoor der Mariniers

E.C. Klop

Korps Mariniers
Koninklijke Marine​

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After sending this E-mail general Klop again went through the briefing that he had received from the Ministry of Defence outlining the goals of the cooperation he was tasked to discuss. He discussed some details with one of his advisors before heading home for the night.

 

[Jamie]

A brief response was submitted, confirming attendance at the 8am video call. Despite an early start, Stuart was usually awake at 5am. Confined to a private office, Brigadier Anson prepared in advance of the video call to ensure his camera and microphone worked. The last thing that was needed was technical difficulties, especially when technology wasn't something he was competent with. He waited patiently for his Dutch counterpart to join the call where he would commence by introducing himself.

Tim

 

[Tim]

As the Major general entered his office at 7 AM he was informed by a secretary that the meeting had been confirmed and that a video conference room was being prepared for him. After his morning briefing with his staff he got ready for the meeting which commenced at 9 AM for him. He got seated in time and read his notes one last time. A member of his staff was also present in the meeting room to take notes on his behalf. A technical officer had established an encrypted line with his the Brigadier, and opened the line at 8 AM GMT exactly. After listening to the Brigadier's introduction he introduced himself and First lieutenant de Vries, "he will be taking notes on my behalf of this meeting, if that is okay with you."

"As you know I wanted to speak to you about the cooperation of our two Marine forces. Our countries are politically aligned and our close proximity could hugely help such a cooperation. The main task of such a cooperation is setting up a joint exercise program so our respective forces can work together to get the best out of their training. I'm wondering what your general thoughts are, or if you have any specific ideas already."

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"Absolutely" nodded the Brigadier, in response to the First Lieutenant whom would be taking minutes. "Prior to this call, I had discussed potential outcomes with others within the British Armed Forces as there are huge interests in developing the relations with the Netherlands. A program like the one you are suggesting sounds like a positive step forward and something I am keen to hear more on. Perhaps you have more of an outline for the longer-term goals, but my initial reaction would be an annual training exercise with Dutch and British Marines working side by side. I'm not sure if you would be seeking to progress this further with joint operations, such as patrols or longer-term deployments?"#

Tim

 

[Tim]

The general nodded along to the comment and ideas of the British Brigadier. "Indeed, an annual large scale exercise would be of huge benefit to both our countries to maintain readiness within the Marines units. Further progressions that you mentioned, such as joint operations, patrols, and other deployments are definitely on the horizon if this cooperation is deemed positive by us both. Along with cooperation of other parts of our Armed Forces of course, but that is of course outside of our direct command."

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"That sounds like a good starting point in that case, a joint exercise. This can then branch off and develop into closer relations, with that in mind, and given the idea is yours, how soon would you be looking to do such an exercise, and is this something you would like to host? I would also be interested to get an understanding on scale of how many personnel and units you intend to put into it, as this would allow us to match that." smiled the Brigadier, optimistic about future Dutch-British Relations.

Tim

 

[Tim]

"An estimated planning phase of one, maybe two months, has lead us to believe that we can start such an exercise at the beginning of 2000, hopefully in January. Our forces currently consist of around 1200 men, including support and logistics, and our bases are able to host an equivalent or slightly larger force for up to 1600 men for the duration of the exercise. Would such a scale and timeframe be possible for you?" the Major general was glad at how smooth the talks seemed to be going, and looked at his Lieutenant to confirm everything was going fine with him and the minutes. He then looked back at the camera and screen and thus at Brigadier Anson.

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"That time frame is definitely possible and we will be able to match the same amount of troop numbers as yourself. We would like to offer aircraft from our Fleet Air Arm as well as other support assets which could see an all-around exercise. Whilst this isn't a problem, naturally, it does come down to operational needs but I would be able to let you know if there are any conflict in the schedule. I presume the planning phase will take place and you will be in touch with the finer details of the exercise you propose?" smiled Stuart.

Tim

 

[Tim]

"Of course, addition of these and other support assets would only increase the value that this exercise will have for the Marines, but we will have to look at the specific scheduling to see what support units are available. However, I can guarantee the pressence of the navy's Amphibious Transport unit with the Rotterdam-class." He nodded to the final question. "Indeed, once the finer details are coming together we will ask you for the required information and share the necessary documents with you."

After a brief pause he continued. "With that I would like to already discuss briefly what you think would be a good primary objective for the exercise. With the versatile landscape in the Netherlands we have the possibility of doing exercises in almost all terrain, except mountainous of course. What do you think would be useful points for this exercise to focus on?"

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"Perfect, we will wait to here back from you to get that scheduled. I think it would be useful to have a joint amphibious assault, with support elements from both the Netherlands and United Kingdom to oversea an assault on a target and move inland to perhaps a more urban area. This would give them a bit of flexibility to consider multiple factors whilst testing our abilities to deploy forces rapidly."

Tim