Last Friday, the 31 st of January, the diploma presentation ceremony for the
class of students of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee took place on
Bonaire. The students were trained as General Investigating Officers for the
Caribbean Netherlands. The diploma ceremony marked the celebratory
conclusion of an intensive training program.
Ceremony
During a festive ceremony, a total of 13 students received their diplomas from
Colonel Willemijn Arends, Commanding Officer of the Training, Education,
and Knowledge Centre of the Kmar.
Among those present were Commanding Officer LTC Brigadier General Jos
Pieters, the head of Basic Police Care of the Caribbean Netherlands Police
Corps, Edwin van de Giessen, the Director of Rijksdienst Caribisch
Nederland, Tim Muller and the Brigade Commander of the Caribbean Region
Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard Smit.
Training Program
The students completed an intensive training period of around 9 months, with
the first three months spent in the Netherlands and the last six months on
Bonaire. This was the first time the training program was delivered partly in
the Netherlands and partly in the Caribbean.
Deployment
From now on, they will be deployed within the KMar Caribbean Brigade as
officers for border policing tasks on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. The
arrival of these new colleagues is a very welcome addition to the current
workforce in the Caribbean Netherlands.
