The Regiment Van Heutsz is a line infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 of the Royal Netherlands Army

Royal Netherlands Army

The Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands.-Short history:The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins date back to 1572, when the so-called Staatse Leger was raised...

. The regiment was named after J.B. van Heutsz a former Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....

, and was formed on July 1, 1950. It currently, in 2011, operates as 12 Air Assault

Air assault

Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing aircraft—such as the helicopter—to seize and hold key terrain which has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces...

 Infantry Battalion as part of 11 Luchtmobiele (Airmobile) Brigade "7 December". From 2006 till 2010, the battalion formed the basis of the battlegroup

Battlegroup (army)

A battlegroup , or task force in modern military theory, is the basic building block of an army's fighting force. A battlegroup is formed around an infantry battalion or armoured regiment, which is usually commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel...

 attached to Task Force Uruzgan

Task Force Uruzgan

The Netherlands Army Task Force Uruzgan was part of NATO's Regional Command South, International Security Assistance Force, in Afghanistan. The Dutch lead one of the four Provincial Reconstruction Teams in the southern region of the country...

, the primary Dutch component of the multi-national forces in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. The regiment maintains the traditions of the Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger.

Additionally, the regiment has inherited the honours and traditions of the Nederlands Detachement Verenigde Naties (Netherlands Detachment United Nations). The regiment was only recently raised when the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 battalion was formed on October 26, 1950, but took the detachment as its first battalion. The regiment has the battle honor Korea 1950–1954 on its colors. Since the new regiment did not have its colors in 1950, a Dutch flag that was used in Korea as the "battle flag " of the Nederlands Detachement Verenigde Naties became the regimental colors. This flag now has official status and is shown on every parade and function of the regiment. American and Korean battle streamers, representing the Presidential Unit Citation, are attached to this flag.