Admiral BENELUX (ABNL)

The Admiral Benelux (ABNL) is the Commanding Officer of the combined military staff of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces.

The position of ABNL was created together with the combination of the Staffs of the two contributing navies on March 28, 1995, in the BeNeSam Accord. The ABNL is responsible for the combined operations of the Dutch and Belgian navies and can be tasked with the responsibility for the operational readiness and deployment of the combined fleets in joint operations, both in war- and peacetime operations. Most of all the ABNL is responsible for the efficient use of joint material and personnel and oversees the joint training programs of the two navies.

The Admiral Benelux is the commanding officer of the joint staffs who, together, form the Directorate of Operations (DOPS). The ABNL is assisted by the Deputy ABNL (DABNL). Under the terms of the BENESAM Accord, the ABNL position is held by the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The DABNL position is held by the Commander of the Belgian Naval Component. The DOPS is headquartered with the Royal Netherlands Navy in Den Helder.

The main body of the ABNL command is the DOPS, although there is also a Directorate of Operational Support (DOST). The two together have operational control of the operational units of the two fleets. DOPS is divided into three branches: command, operational and support.

The combined staff (sometimes referred to as the Benelux Admiralty) is a result of developing naval cooperation between the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Belgian Navy. This cooperation was first geared at mutual battlefield cooperation and later at mutual defense in the Cold War as part of NATO's Allied Command Channel (ACCHAN). One of ACCHAN's subordinate commands was the Benelux Sub-Area Channel Command (BENECHAN) based in Den Helder and consisting of the Belgian and Dutch navies. After the end of the Cold War the focus of the Dutch-Belgian cooperation turned more and more to the efficient use of equipment and personnel (also driven by cutbacks in military spending after the collapse of the Soviet Union).

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