Belgian-Netherlands Mine Warfare School Eguermin

Info

Belgian-Dutch naval mine warfare school EGUERMIN

Geschiedenis

Bi-National Defense Agreement:
A bi-national Defense agreement between Belgium and the Netherlands, signed on 17th of May 1965 (and adapted in August 75) specifies that for both their navies all training in NMCM will be concentrated in the Belgian - Netherlands Naval Mine Warfare School in Oostende (Belgium). As a result, the schools staff, instructors and budgets are now shared between the two nations.

International Scope:
The school endeavors to act as Nato Center of Excellence in Naval Mine Warfare. It is pursuing high quality standards in instruction training techniques through active participation in several NATO Mine Warfare related workgroups. Since the international courses started in 1975, several hundreds of NATO students have passed through the school, thereby forging comradeship and mutual understanding in the difficult domain of Naval Mine Counter Measures. The school now also has courses available for non-NATO students.
Through the years the school has developed several memorandum of understanding and cooperation with allied countrys. The United States, German and very soon Italian officers are part of the fixed complement of the school. In the mean time, the school was also open for Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) an Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) nations.

Quality and Excellence:
In December 2003, the Belgian and Netherlands Defence Ministers decided to propose EGUERMIN to HQ, SACT as a prospective Centre of Excellence for Naval Mine Warfare. In April 2005, the three parties (BEL, NLD and SACT) signed a MOU to that effect. The North Atlantic Council formally recognized EGUERMIN as a Centre of Excellence in November 2006. For decades, EGUERMIN's and now NMW COE's expertise has been requested worldwide by commands, organizations and nations.
The mission of NMW COE EGUERMIN is to provide courses, training and expertise in the field of Naval Mine Warfare.