Chief of Defence (Netherlands)

The Chief of Defence (Dutch: Commandant der Strijdkrachten, CDS) is the highest-ranking military officer in the Armed forces of the Netherlands and is the principal military advisor to the Minister of Defence. On behalf of the Minister of Defence, he is responsible for operational policy, strategic planning and for preparing and executing military operations carried out by the Armed forces. The Chief of Defence is in charge of the central staff and is the direct commanding officer of all the commanders of the branches of the Armed forces. In this capacity the Chief of Defence directs all the activities of the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Navy and Royal Netherlands Air Force. He is also in charge of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, when it is operating under the responsibility of the Minister of Defence.

Chief of Defence
Commandant der Strijdkrachten
Flag of the Chief of Defence
Incumbent
Lieutenant admiral
Rob Bauer
since 5 October 2017
Armed forces of the Netherlands
StyleHis Excellency
AbbreviationCDS
Member ofCentral Staff
Reports toMinister of Defence
PrecursorChief of the Defence Staff
Formation5 September 2005
First holderGeneral Dick Berlijn
DeputyVice Chief of Defence
Website(in English) Chief of Defence

Responsibilities

The main role of the Chief of Defence is as an intermediary between the Minister of Defence and the Central Staff of the Armed Forces of The Netherlands. He makes operational policy and is responsible to the minister for military-strategic planning, operations and deployment of the Armed Forces. The Chief of Defence is the direct commanding officer of the commanders of the branches of the Armed forces.

The branch commanders are responsible for preparedness and actual deployment of their military personnel in the Netherlands and the rest of the world. Regarding operational planning and deployment, the branch commanders take their orders directly from the Chief of Defence.

There is a fourth branch of the military, the Royal Marechaussee (Gendarmerie). This branch does not answer to the Chief of Defence, since it is the police force for the entirety of the Armed Forces. This requires that the Marechaussee be independent, so this branch took its orders directly from the Secretary-general for the Ministry of Defence. The current Secretary-General is Wim Geerts.

In addition to his command tasks, the Chief of Defence is the senior military advisor to the Minister of Defence.

The current position of Chief of Defence (CHOD) is new since 5 September 2005, when it replaced the existing role of Chef-Defensiestaf (Chief of the Defence Staff) and was abbreviated as CDS. Just like its predecessor role the position of Chief of Defence will rotate between the branches of the military; the first Chief of Defence was General Dick Berlijn, of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The position of Chief of Defence is held by a Four-star officer (NATO OF-9, meaning a General or a Lieutenant admiral), which means that promotion to the position of Chief of Defence includes a promotion in rank as well as there is only one four-star officer in the current command structure.[1]

On 24 February 2017 the Ministry of Defence announced that Vice-admiral Rob Bauer will be the next Chief of Defence [2]

On 3 October 2017 the chief of defence General Tom Middendorp resigned after severe problems with the Dutch defence,[3] on 5 October 2017 he is succeeded by Lieutenant admiral Rob Bauer[4]

List of Chiefs of the Defence Staff / Chiefs of Defence

Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces (1914–1949)
No. Commander-in-chief of the Armed forcesTook officeLeft officeTime in officeDefence branch
1
Snijders, CornelisGeneral
Cornelis Snijders
(1852–1939)		31 July 19149 November 19184 years, 101 daysRoyal Netherlands Army /
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
2
Pop, Willem FrederikLieutenant general
Willem Frederik Pop
(1852–1939)		9 November 191820 November 19191 year, 11 days
Royal Netherlands Army
Vacant
Interbellum
3
Reijnders, IzaakGeneral
Izaak Reijnders
(1879–1966)		28 August 19396 February 1940162 days
Royal Netherlands Army
4
Reijnders, IzaakGeneral
Henri Winkelman
(1876–1952)		6 February 194015 May 194099 days
Royal Netherlands Army
Vacant
German occupation
5
Lippe-Biesterfeld, BernhardGeneral
Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
(1911–2003)		3 September 194413 September 19451 year, 10 daysRoyal Netherlands Army /
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army /
Royal Netherlands Navy
6
Kruls, Hendrik JohanGeneral
Hendrik Johan Kruls
(1902–1975)		13 September 19451 January 19493 years, 110 days
Royal Netherlands Army

Chairman of the United Defence Staff (1949–1976)
No. Chairman of the United Defence StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in officeDefence branch
1
Kruls, Hendrik JohanGeneral
Hendrik Johan Kruls
(1902–1975)		1 January 19495 January 19512 years, 4 days
Royal Netherlands Army
2
Holthe, Edzard Jacob vanVice admiral
Edzard Jacob van Holthe
(1896–1967)		5 January 195110 January 19532 years, 5 days
Royal Netherlands Navy
3
Aler, FonsLieutenant general
Fons Aler
(1896–1981)		10 January 19531 October 1953264 days
Royal Netherlands Air Force
4
Hasselman, BenGeneral
Ben Hasselman
(1898–1984)		1 October 19531 November 19574 years, 31 days
Royal Netherlands Army
5
Schaper, HeijeLieutenant general
Heije Schaper
(1906–1996)		1 November 195710 May 19591 year, 190 days
Royal Netherlands Air Force
6
Propper, HenryLieutenant admiral
Henry Propper
(1906–1995)		10 May 195910 May 19623 years, 0 days
Royal Netherlands Navy
7
le Fèvre de Montigny, GillisGeneral
Gillis le Fèvre de Montigny
(1901–1982)		10 May 19625 May 19652 years, 360 days
Royal Netherlands Army
8
Zielstra, HeinGeneral
Hein Zielstra
(1908–1985)		5 May 196530 December 19683 years, 239 days
Royal Netherlands Air Force
9
Wall Bake, Hugo van denLieutenant admiral
Hugo van den Wall Bake
(1913–1981)		5 January 196915 January 19723 years, 10 days
Royal Netherlands Navy
10
Rijn, Willem vanLieutenant general
Willem van Rijn
(1915–1997)		15 January 19721 November 19731 year, 290 days
Royal Netherlands Army
11
Wijting, RobbieGeneral
Robbie Wijting
(1925–1986)		1 November 197310 December 19763 years, 39 days
Royal Netherlands Air Force

Chiefs of the Defence Staff (1976–2005)
No. Chief of the Defence StaffTook officeLeft officeTime in officeDefence branch
1
Wijting, RobbieGeneral
Robbie Wijting
(1925–1986)		10 December 19761 November 19803 years, 327 days
Royal Netherlands Air Force
2
Jager, Cor deGeneral
Cor de Jager
(1925–2001)		1 November 19805 July 19832 years, 246 days
Royal Netherlands Army
3
Huijser, GovertGeneral
Govert Huijser
(1931–2014)		5 July 198310 December 19885 years, 158 days
Royal Netherlands Army
4
Graaff, PeterGeneral
Peter Graaff
(1936–2014)		10 December 198810 May 19923 years, 152 days
Royal Netherlands Army
5
Vlis, Arie van derGeneral
Arie van der Vlis
(1940–2020)		10 May 199215 August 19942 years, 97 days
Royal Netherlands Army
6
Breemen, Henk van denGeneral
Henk van den Breemen
(born 1941)		15 August 19945 June 19983 years, 294 days
Royal Netherlands Marine Corps
7
Kroon, LuukLieutenant admiral
Luuk Kroon
(1942–2012)		5 June 19985 June 20046 years, 0 days
Royal Netherlands Navy
8
Berlijn, DickGeneral
Dick Berlijn
(born 1950)		5 June 20045 September 20051 year, 92 days
Royal Netherlands Air Force

Chiefs of the Defence (2005–present)
No. Chief of the DefenceTook officeLeft officeTime in officeDefence branch
1
Berlijn, DickGeneral
Dick Berlijn
(born 1950)		5 September 200517 April 20082 years, 225 days
Royal Netherlands Air Force
2
Uhm, Peter vanGeneral
Peter van Uhm
(born 1955)		17 April 200828 June 20124 years, 72 days
Royal Netherlands Army
3
Middendorp, TomGeneral
Tom Middendorp
(born 1960)		28 June 20123 October 20175 years, 97 days
Royal Netherlands Army
4
Bauer, RobLieutenant admiral
Rob Bauer
(born 1962)		5 October 2017Incumbent3 years, 122 days
Royal Netherlands Navy

List of Vice Chiefs of Defence
Vice Chiefs of Defence Military branch Term of office
Lieutenant general
Hans Sonneveld		 Royal Netherlands Army 5 September 2005 – 1 December 2006
(1 year, 87 days)
Lieutenant general
Rob Bertholee
(Born 1955)		 Royal Netherlands Army 1 December 2006 – 3 March 2008
(1 year, 93 days)
Lieutenant general
Freek Meulman		 Royal Netherlands Air Force 3 March 2008 – 3 March 2012
(2 years, 0 days)
Vice admiral
Wim Nagtegaal		 Royal Netherlands Navy 3 March 2010 – 14 May 2012
(2 years, 72 days)
Lieutenant general
Hans Wehren		 Royal Netherlands Air Force 14 May 2012 – 1 September 2015
(3 years, 110 days)
Vice admiral
Rob Bauer
(born 1962)		 Royal Netherlands Navy 1 September 2015 – 13 July 2017
(1 year, 315 days)
Lieutenant general
Martin Wijnen
(Born 1966)		 Royal Netherlands Army 13 July 2017 – 1 July 2019
(1 year, 353 days)
Lieutenant general
Onno Eichelsheim
(Born 1966)		 Royal Netherlands Air Force 1 July 2019
(1 year, 218 days)

References
  1. (in Dutch) Generaal-majoor Middendorp nieuwe Commandant der Strijdkrachten Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine, Rijksoverheid, 2 October 2011
  2. (in Dutch)
  3. (in Dutch)
  4. (in Dutch)
Official
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