Royal Netherlands Navy
“Sailing Storms: A Dutch Navy Veteran’s Adventures”
Richard Huitema joined the Royal Netherlands Navy at 21. He spent nearly three decades there. The roles changed — electrical mechanic, diver, underwater cameraman, media specialist — but the commitment didn’t. Nearly 30 years of service across some of the most demanding postings the Dutch military had to offer.
The Navy
Richard started as an electrical mechanic aboard ships. That was the foundation. From there, his career moved underwater. He trained as a diver and learned to film beneath the surface — mine searches, shipwreck documentation, operational footage. The technical challenge is significant. In fact, underwater filming means managing buoyancy, breathing, equipment, and composition simultaneously. Most people can barely manage one of those things at once.
The training was brutal by design. A 7km swim through a cold canal. Night marches. Rowing and manoeuvring heavy oil drums as a team. Meanwhile, the point was never just fitness — it was finding out who holds together under pressure and who doesn’t. Richard held together.
Deployments
The missions took him everywhere. Yugoslavia, Somalia, Bosnia, Libya. In Libya, he was part of a helicopter evacuation. He completed multiple tours in Afghanistan — Kandahar, Kabul, Kunduz — filming documentary projects from inside active bases.
Afghanistan gave him perspective that doesn’t leave. He remembers a barefoot child in freezing slush. That image stays. It reframes every minor complaint the Western world generates on a daily basis.
Sailed to New York with the Dutch Royals — crossing the Atlantic in four to five days. Visited Cairo and stood in front of the pyramids. He advises anyone going to watch out for the camel scams. They are consistent.
The Work
Alongside his Navy career, Richard works as a freelance cameraman. The technical skills built over three decades of underwater and operational filming translate directly into civilian production work. Furthermore, his advice to anyone considering a military career is straightforward — get into the youth programmes at 16 or 17. Test it before you commit. The career demands everything. It helps to know that going in.
Overall, Richard’s story is about what happens when someone spends 30 years doing difficult things in difficult places and develops a clear sense of what actually matters.
Interview
Name: Sergeant-Major Richard Huitema
Occupation: Tech and Freelance Cameraman
Location: The Netherlands
