11th Supply Compagnie Air Mobile; Stroezand GLV-VII, June 26, 2018

Supplying by Air with Helicopters; Text and Photograph's by Alex van Noye

After the fall of the Berlin wall and the suspension of conscription, the entire Dutch defense organization was changed. In 1993, the 11 Bevocie moved from the 11 Armored Infantry Brigade to the 11 Airmobile Brigade which was new in the Army. The actual conversion was in 1995, when the unit moved to Schaarsbergen.

The history of the 11th Supply Company Airmobile (11 Bevocie) started in the second half of the 1960s. In 1965, it was decided to make the readiness brigades, which had been formed in the early 1960s, autonomous. The logistics resources at division level such as the Division Intendance Company, the Division Technical Service Battalion and the Division Transport Battalion were divided over the brigades. For example, the 11 Armored Infantry Brigade (11 Painfbrig) received the 11 Supply Company (11 Bevocie), the 11 Recovery Company (11 Hrstcie) and the 11 Medical Company (11 Gnkcie) in the organization. These three units were grouped in the 11 Train Battalion (11 TN-bat) on April 1, 1966. This battalion was disbanded in 1968 by the transition from the division troops to the army corps level. In 1984, the staff of the 11 TN-bat was dissolved, after which the 11 Bevocie, the 11 Hrstcie and the 11 Gnkcie came directly under the command of the commander of the 11 Painfbrig. From 1993, 11 Painfbrig was converted into the 11 Airmobile Brigade (11 LMB), which also changed the task, working method and organization of the logistics units. With the introduction of the physical distribution process within the Army between 2005 and 2007 and the associated vehicles (swap bodies) and lifting equipment, the supply process within the other brigades changed. As a result, the Bevocie units were removed from these units. Only the 11 LMB retained its logistical independence and with that, the 11 Bevocie Lumbl is the only existing Bevocie in the Army nowadays.

The soldiers of the 11 Bevocie were in the past just as now recognizable by their uniforms. In the past, the staff of the unit was composed of a mix of the Intendance service (INT) and Supply and Exhaust Service (AAT). These soldiers were identified by their unit scarf with a white horse in the middle. Later this horse was replaced by a yellow boar head. The unit scarf distinguished the two groups from each other. The crimson red for INT and the blue for AAT soldiers. The boar became the symbol of the

11 Panzer Infantry Brigade. During an exercise of the brigade in the vicinity of Dwingeloo in 1963, they buried kitchen waste which was dug up again by people or animals. In the local press the guilt of the rubbish was given to the military. In this accusation the name "forest boars" was used against the military. Because of the proverbial courage of this animal, the name was elevated to the unit name and a wild boar became the brigade emblem. Nowadays the unit belongs to the Airmobile Brigade. The soldiers of this unit are recognizable by the characteristic red beret. This is an international identification sign for para and air landing troops. The emblem of the 11 Bevocie no longer consists of a boar, but of the falcon of the 11 Airmobile Brigade. The background of the emblem is red and blue. The blue is the color of the AAT and the crimson red of the INT troops. Furthermore, there are 3 small images in the logo, the Pacman which stands for class I (food), the funnel that stands for class III (fuel, oils) and the bullet that stands for class V (ammunition).

In the past, the 11 Bevocie was stationed in the Wittenberg Army Site, which was later renamed as the General Major Kootkazerne in Garderen. In 1995, the 11 Bevocie moved to the Oranjekazerne in Schaarsbergen with their work location in Duivelsberg. Since the establishment, the unit has been in charge of supplying the brigade units with class I and class III goods on a daily basis. By order of the brigade commander, the unit will also supply the class V goods. The class V element of the company had a "Supplement OMU" (organic ammunition equipment) from the brigade to facilitate ammunition usage until about five days. This "iron stock" remained as much as possible "on the wheels" which means that there was always mobility available. The task of the 11 Bevocie was not changed in substance with the conversion to 11 Bevocie Lumbl in 1995. The 11 Bevocie continued to support the rest of the brigade in various areas. The supply of new ammunition, food, spare parts and equipment is one of the main tasks of the unit. Only the mode of action and the resources were changed when the unit was assigned to the airmobile. Today, the unit is also using equipment such as LSVs (Airmobile Special Vehicles), HUSLE (Helicopter Underslung Loading Equipment) and helicopters of the DHC. The company has nine tank trucks and more than seventy trucks, some with a loading crane.

In addition to the brigade and company-led exercises and many logistical support of the brigade, the unit was deployed at various SITE guards (guarding major weapons/ammunition of American units) in Havelte and 't Harde. The unit was also deployed several times a year as Vaste Kampstaf of the brigade, after the lifting of the train battalions in the 1980s. The unit had the task of managing buildings and training areas and logistical support. In 1992, the unit was rewarded with the Division Pennant. This pennant was awarded once a year to the most deserving unit of the entire 1 Division "7 December". From 1995 to 2003, the 11 Bevocie worked towards working methods which resulted in the operational readiness status being achieved in October 2003. From that moment on, the 11 Bevocie was allowed to add "AASLT" (Air Assault) to the company name. Personnel of the 11 Bevocie have been on several occasions since that status in the various operations of the Dutch Army abroad. In 2011, 11 Bevocie AASLT received its deployment flag for the mission in Afghanistan as LSD-4 and the component flag added a number of ribbons that have been earned by the unit over the years during the various missions. These missions, were; UNPROFOR (DUTCHBAT), SFOR, Afghanistan Kabul ISAF, Iraq SFIR and Afghanistan Uruzgan ISAF. The motto of the 11 Bevocie now reads " Laborandum Est" or "We will work". The slogan "Bevo SEAL!" Is often used by the unit, where SEAL stands for Special Elite Armed Logistics.