Belgian Army under fire

Belgian armed forces partaking in an exercise called operation Crazy Trip in Den Helder have had to endure a few complaints about their behavior:
-Dealing out spent and unspent training ammo to kids.
-Taking up position on a balcony of an old people's home and firing their weapons in the middle of the night.

A storm of protest ensued. Granted, dealing out ammo to kids is not very safe. And some of the old dears in the home probably relived their world war childhood.

Mind you, they did kinda apologize by taking them a bunch of flowers the following morning.

But this begs another question: Last year a similar exercise took place in Ostend on the 28th of August called FTX Storm Tide. This was a joint exercise including Belgian commando's, Spanish infanterists and Dutch marines.
Soldiers standing on top of the Koninklijke Gaanderijen were dealing out spent shells too. Pictures galore on the intertubes.
And no one started an investigation about that. Isn't that a bit odd?

The soldiers also had their picture taken when standing next to the statue of King Leopold II on top of the Drie Gapers.
It struck me as quite funny, it reminded me of occupational German forces during the war doing exactly the same thing and then sending off a few copies off to the home front to see where they'd been and all the nice places they'd already conquered.

Funny how history mimicks itself in the strangest fashion and the smallest details...