Vice Admiral Boudewijn Boots (Veghel, 1964) trained as a helmsman in the merchant navy and joined the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1986. Boots served on board the minehunters HNLMS Haarlem and HNLMS Hellevoetsluis, with which he took part in Operation Octopus, the WEU minehunting operation during the Iran-Iraq war. After his principal warfare and navigation officer training, he sailed on board HNLMS Van Nes and HNLMS Zuiderkruis. It was with these ships that he took part in Fairwind 1995 and Operation Sharp Guard Photo and bio source : https://english.defensie.nl/downloads/publications/2022/03/10/curriculum-vitae-vice-admiral-boudewijn-boots