WILLEMSTAD – Mortar fire echoed across the Wacawa military training grounds over the past two weeks as the 11th Air Assault Battalion of the Royal Netherlands Army carried out intensive exercises on Curaçao’s rugged terrain.
“At Wacawa we trained exactly where the rounds impact. The mortar group conducted intensive firing series for two full weeks,” the 11 Air Assault Brigade reported on its official Facebook page.
Under scorching Caribbean sun, the unit executed realistic 24-hour operations designed to test readiness under demanding conditions. Multiple specializations operated together in an integrated field environment, including Fire Support Teams (FST), Forward Observers (FO), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) teams, and 81mm mortar groups.
The challenging landscape placed heavy demands on flexibility and coordination. According to the brigade, the primary objective was to achieve maximum integration and ensure optimal performance under pressure.