Now that the Netherlands’ military mission in Afghanistan is coming to an end, so too are the broadcasts of Uruzgan FM, a daily radio show for the Dutch soldiers in Afghanistan and the home front produced by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and music station 3FM. On Sunday, the Netherlands hands over military command in the province of Uruzgan to the US.

Making a radio programme especially for a military mission was uncharted territory for the Netherlands. The idea came from Peter Veenendaal of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. He understood just how valuable it could be for servicemen and women stationed far away from home.

”As a soldier on a mission, your biggest concern is obviously being killed or injured. But simply being forgotten is also a worry: the fear that the folks back home are essentially unaware of the difficult work you are doing. It was this thought that sparked the plan to make a daily radio show for the troops.”

Bitter taste
Its view is shared by General Dick Berlijn, who was Commander of the Netherlands Armed Forces in the early years of the Afghanistan mission. Uruzgan FM not only strengthened the ties between the soldiers and the home front, but also gave the soldiers the feeling that people back in the Netherlands cared about the mission.

”If you are stationed in a danger zone, faced with the threat of being injured or killed, and you return to the Netherlands with the idea that no one attached much importance to what you were doing, it leaves a very bitter taste that stays with you all your life.”

Back seat
The Ministry of Defence had no say in the content of the Uruzgan FM broadcasts. In agreeing to take a back seat they were also taking a risk, since it didn’t take Uruzgan FM long to establish their own informal network. The move was in line with a Defence Ministry decision to be more open to the press. In the past, journalists were kept at arm’s length as much as possible. All that has changed, insists Dick Berlijn.

”In defence, we are carrying out a mission for society, so there is nothing to hide. If you know what you’re doing and you carry out your work with integrity, then everyone should be able to see what you are doing. The gates should be open.”

Open door
Dick Berlijn is convinced that this open-door approach is a far more effective strategy than keeping the gates locked and the shutters down. Radio Netherlands Worldwide and 3FM are now closing the chapter on Uruzgan FM. But there are still Dutch servicemen and women stationed across the globe: off the coast of Somalia, in Southern Sudan and in Bosnia. A follow-up project is now being considered: a radio show for Dutch military personnel on peacekeeping missions all over the world.