Soesterberg Air Base was a Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) military air base located in Soesterberg, east-northeast of Utrecht. It was first established as an airfield in 1911, and in 1913, the Dutch Army bought the field and established the Army Aviation Division. For almost 40 years, United States Air Force facilities at Soesterberg, named Camp New Amsterdam was a major front line USAFE air base during the Cold War. The base was closed on 31 December 2008, due to budget cuts in the Dutch armed forces. The air base ceased flying operations on 12 November 2008, when the command was transferred from the RNLAF to the Ministry of Defence which will take care of the base until it will be given back to nature. The last fighter ever to depart, delayed due bad weather at Aviano AB, was a Greek F-4E Phantom II. The former USAFE part stays in military hands, and will now officially be called Camp New Amsterdam. Early history During World War I, the Netherlands was a neutral country, and flew border patrol missions from Soesterberg airfield. The Dutch confiscated all foreign aircraft landing inside the borders of their country during the war, and added the operational ones to their inventory to be used for pilot training at Soesterberg. At the beginning of World War II, the Dutch again declared neutrality, but the German force's blitzkrieg overran the country in five days, and Soesterberg was occupied by the German Luftwaffe on 15 May 1940. A variety of German aircraft were stationed there during the war, flying anti-ship missions along British convoy routes in the North Sea, bombing missions over England, and fighter defence against Allied bombing missions. Throughout the war, allied air forces caused enormous damage to the airfield, and by September 1944 the Luftwaffe acknowledged Soesterberg airfield to be more or less useless. In May 1945, Canadian forces liberated the airfield. After the War, an extensive Dutch construction programme was started to build new hangars, and extending the runways. Several locations around the base, used as service areas during the War, were upgraded. On 5 August 1951, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) declared it operational and gave it an air defence role. The RNLAF has maintained flying units at Soesterberg since then. On the base two monuments were erected. The Monument for Fallen Aviators (Monument voor Gevallen Vliegers) is the official RNLAF memorial, and