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Dieren en planten

Water en land

Vlieland   Air Force   

Mens en Milieu

2004: cleaning up the shooting targets, Dirk Bruin, Noordwester, Vlieland

Army and Air Force on Vlieland

Sections of the National Defence have been stationed on the island of Vlieland since 1948. The Air Force and the army (cavalry) practice with shooting targets from the camp 'the Vliehors' and the air base in Leeuwarden. Even the navy sometimes uses the training grounds.

  • Vliehors as shooting range

    In 1948, the Vliehors was designed as a shooting terrain by the Royal Air Force (Klu). The personnel were housed on the eastern part of Vlieland, in the East Battery which was left over from the Second World War. The fort consisted of a number of bunkers, built for the purpose of coastal defence and used by the Germans as their eastern battery. Shooting practices were done on the Vliehors. The terrain is seventeen square kilometers, primarily consisting of empty sand plains, with several ridges of dunes running lengthwise. The North Sea regularly floods the Hors during storm and high tide and even the Wadden Sea adds its share.
    The Royal Army (KL) established itself on Vlieland in 1956. For four years long, a tent camp was built at the beginning of each shooting season (shooting season KL 1 September - 15 April; Klu was open all year round). The necessary material was brought over from Harlingen per landing craft and broken down at the end of the season. The used material was stored at the Depot Cavalry, in the Bernhard Barracks in Amersfoort.
    An encampment was constructed in 1960, consisting of barracks to house the permanent staff and the troops in training. The Klu left its location on the 'Oostpunt' in 1961 and was also housed in the encampment, henceforth known as the Camp 'Vliehors'.
    In 2004, the shooting practices with tanks on the Vliehors came to an end. The Cavalry Shooting Camp (CSK), which had already been renamed as the Trainings Center for Manoeuvres, was definitely closed down in that year. All of the army targets have since been removed. The south side of the Vliehors has been returned to nature.

  • Air force trainings
    Shooting target and grenade, the Vliehors., Dirk Bruin, Noordwester, Vlieland

    The Vliehors has been a training ground for the air force and NATO partners since 1948. Around 8000 planes practice on the shooting range. The terrain is open for strollers in the weekend. In 2005, there was much anxiety about dangerous unexploded ammunition.

  • Ground and Air support

    The last group to make use of the combination possibilities is the school Ground and Air support. This school trains personnel for various functions, such as a FAC (forward air controller), whereby military people (FACs) on the ground lead pilots to a scouted target with help of radio connections and other apparatus. Practice lessons take place on the Vliehors.