Women to serve on Dutch submarines

By Janene Pieters on May 11, 2015 - 09:00
800px-Dutch_submarine_Zeeleeuw
Dutch submarine the Zeeleeuw (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Björn Hamels Hfodf). Dutch submarine the Zeeleeuw (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Björn Hamels Hfodf)

The submarine service - one of the last male only services in the Dutch military - will soon also be opened to women.

Women have never been able to work on the submarines. The thought was that the presence of women would lead to undesirable situations in such small spaces. But the Ministry of Defense has now changed its mind, AD reports.

"No more discussion, it's going to happen", chief executive Hugo Ammerlaan said to the newspaper. "It is no longer of this time that we only admit men, we are just about the last country in the modern world that doesn't do it."

Another reason for Defense to open the submarine service to women is a shortage of well qualified staff. Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said last year that she is in favor of this change.

Now that the submarine service also allows women, the Marine Corps is the last male bastion within Defense.

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