They both served in the Corps of Commandos and conducted covert missions in various conflict zones. Today, Dai Carter (1989) and Ray Klaassens (1973), the instructors from the TV show Camp Van Koningsbrugge, are using the experiences they gained in the Special Forces for another mission: making the Netherlands stronger.
Styling: Pascalle Koldenhof
Visage: Selke Stojancic
Courtesy of: Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, Noordwijk
Dai: "At school, things weren't going so well. I was very searching. My then stepfather's father had served in Indonesia and came up with all kinds of cool stories about the commandos. I started doing research and that's kind of how that dream came about. From the age of sixteen I started training with the goal of becoming a commando. At 20, I got my green beret."
Dai: "I have been to four different conflict areas: East, West, North Africa and the Middle East. I can't tell much else about those because they were secret missions and, besides, you don't want to provoke attacks on your own soil. As a country, I can only mention Mali."
Dai: "On special missions, extra responsibility rests on the Medic, because no doctor or nurse goes along. You often only run a mission like that with about eight or nine men. If it goes wrong, it comes down to your specialization, your skills. At the time, I had an intensive 13-week training that included war trauma, disease and wound suturing. In the field, I was the first responder, having to keep wounded alive for the first 72 hours before they could be disposed of."
Dai: "There are quite a few of them. I have found missions in urbanized areas particularly threatening. All kinds of people walk there. The groups doing actions there blend into the street scene. Out of nowhere, an attack can happen. That happened quite often. You are not always with your team, sometimes you are alone on the street. If they have an eye on you, you run the risk of them pulling you backwards and you end up in an orange jumpsuit somewhere. These are scenarios you don't want to experience, but they are realistic. You can also end up in a gunfight between warring factions."
Dai: "During commando training you are confronted with fear and trained to deal with it, for example when you are shot at. Fear makes you stiffen, you can't have that. Because we are trained, we don't freeze but switch to action, to react to the situation. And with the tension involved, you can still act.
Once in Mali at our base we had to rush into the helicopter because there had been an attack on a platoon of Nigerian soldiers. There were said to be nine wounded. When we got there, they all turned out to be dead. We had to recover the bodies very quickly; I myself zipped seven guys into body bags. With a rush of blood we put the body bags in the chopper, because the threat level was high. Because those bodies were in the chopper, there wasn't much room for us. At one point I became aware that my feet were resting on a dead dude. Then you realize: this seems very ordinary, but it's not at all."
Dai: "Sometimes when I smell a scent or when we're working on Camp Van Koningsbrugge, I get a flashback of a mission or a particular moment. That happens frequently."
Dai: "Most of the memories are beautiful. Most of them have to do with camaraderie. That is so great about the television program, you feel that connection again, that brotherly bond. Would I want to return to the commandos if I could? No, I have closed that chapter."
Dai: "Those are about leadership, dealing with pain, brotherhood, mastery, learning to enjoy the process rather than the result... I learned so much! That became the foundation for the person I am today. I felt I should share those lessons with anyone who wants to strengthen their mental strength. I wrote a book about that, Now or Never. I also give lectures, master classes and inspiration sessions on the subject. Then I zoom in on the components that I believe make up mental strength: physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual. Partly due to the success of Camp Van Koningsbrugge and my book, my company Carter Training receives many requests from the business world, but also from the education sector. I am very happy about that, because I think we should already learn at school how stress works and how to deal with it. It is my mission to strengthen mental strength in as many people as possible in the Netherlands."
Ray: "To make Dutch society more resilient. With Triangular Group, a company I started together with Onno van Boven, we respond to, among other things, shortages in the labor market. Government agencies like the police, Justice and Defense have a core product to deliver, such as 'blue on the street.' But the economic climate is such that civil servants are more readily leaving for private parties, creating gaps in the workforce. We catch those who leave 'at the gate.' Do they no longer want to be deployed? Do they need more variety? Do they earn too little? Do they need more flexibility? We can do something about that. We have a solid pool of people and many different projects.
Then we look for the right match, possibly after internal training with us. An example: the police have a personnel shortage and have to scale up by 200 percent because of an increased risk at the Binnenhof there. We offer a thirteen-week training course in which boa officers train in police work to strengthen the police force in high-risk situations. In a relatively short time we can strengthen the police force that way. In the meantime we have helped about two hundred people who had closed the door behind them elsewhere. Those who take the step to leave are often those with potential. They are fed up with something and want to do something with that energy, with their enthusiasm."
Ray: "I went for the adventure ánd I wanted to spare my parents, because this way they didn't have to pay for an expensive study. I did the Military Academy and was trained as a leader within a unit. I enjoyed getting the best out of people, especially in the case of the Corps of Commandos: they want to get the most out of people and get better every day. It is nicer to work with people who want to than with people who feel they have to. To me, inspiring is getting people from needing to wanting."
"I've been shot at, but I've never had to make a choice face to face that you wouldn't wish on anyone. When you train people for this, you have a responsibility, actually an obligation, to ask the question behind this movement. Because it's not about whether you can shoot well or dare to, but what the consequence is. You hit a person where there is a whole world behind it: you take the breadwinner out of a family, traumatize relatives ... There is a piece of ethics behind it. Don't take it lightly. On the shooter's side, the exact same thing can happen. As a commander, I taught my pupils to remove the threat with the least amount of force, as accurately as possible. Shoot in one hit, and there will be as few collateral casualties as possible. Like in a hostage situation. That is the skill of a sniper. When do you hold on to something? In the case of helplessness, when you are unable to act and there is no safety net afterwards - Srebrenica! Then you start developing something that is post-traumatic."
Ray: "Dangerous situations, as far as I'm concerned, almost always have to do with crowds. In Ivory Coast, we were a small club with few resources, but a large mandate. The enemy was not an enemy, these were upset civilians who were over the moon and taking out their frustrations on Westerners who happened to be there. One mistake - taking a wrong turn, walking into the wrong store - then immediately leads to the images we know from Libya and Iraq. Then you are dragged through the streets and have nothing more to say. You can be as commanding as that, but you will lose. How to arm yourself against it? Purely through discipline, planning, preparation. Don't do anything crazy. Some guys stayed behind - no Dutchmen - because they made that one mistake. What can also lead to dangerous situations is the decision of a commander. In 2003, I was deployed to Kabul. As we were about to fly there, one of the small group we were relieving drove into a roadside bomb, leaving one wounded and one seriously injured. Two other colleagues had to render acute aid. In response to this attack, we had to move into an observation post and track down the perpetrators based on intelligence. But to get there, we had to pass through an area where it was known that mines lay. It was crystal clear to me then: the boss says so, so we do it. Now I would think differently: What are we doing this for? What will it ever achieve? And should our families be at risk for this? This is also immediately the tricky thing, because if you are military, you really shouldn't ask this question."
In the fall edition of MASTERS, an interview with LVMH boss Bernard Arnault ("being the richest man in the world didn't do anything for me"), a driving review of the electric Audi RS e-tron GT, on reportage with the 'tree matchmakers' of The Green Contractors, an interview with celebrity chef Dick Middelweerd and a visit in Barcelona with Ronald Koeman. The war, the climate crisis, the energy problem... More than ever, leadership and entrepreneurship are being called upon. With MASTERS EXPO | The Colourful Edition (December 8 to 12, RAI Amsterdam), we want to contribute in our own way and give the world a push in the right direction. In this edition of MASTERS, a colorful preview of the most exclusive business fair. Time to think ahead, innovate, connect!
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