DUTCH COUGAR
TEXT: CARLO KUIT AND PAUL KIEVIT | PHOTO
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t has been 25 years since the first of the 17 brand new Aérospatiale AS532 Cougars of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) landed at Soesterberg Air Base, the home base of 300 Squadron at that time, for the first time. The initial contract was signed on 23 October 2013. The first AS532 was delivered on 3 May 1996, and all 17 deliveries were completed in the subsequent two years. Currently, 300 Squadron operates out of Gilze-Rijen Air Base as part of the RNLAF Defense Helicopter Command (DHC), established in 2008. 'In Mobilitate Vis Nostra' The Wildcats, their usual callsign when operating in the
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Netherlands, of 300 Squadron have completed more than 55,000 flight hours to date which, since 1996, enabled them to participate in a very respectable number of major deployments and exercises. Active deployments all around the world, consisting of shipand land-based operations, show that mobility is clearly within the DNA of the squadron. Something that is also embedded within the squadron's motto 'In Mobilitate Vis Nostra' (in mobility lies our power). New Commander At the beginning of September 2020, LtCol. Roy Hemmelder became the new Commander of 300 Squadron. He has been with the unit flying the
One AS532 Cougar of 300 Squadro the apron while the other one is re
