Mart de Kruif

Mart de Kruif MSM is a three-star general in the Royal Netherlands Army and served as its executive commander.

Mart de Kruif
Born	1 September 1958 Apeldoorn, Gelderland, The Netherlands.
Allegiance	The Netherlands
Service/branch	Royal Dutch Army
Years of service	1981–2016
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Royal Netherlands Army ISAF Regional Command South 43 Gemechaniseerde Brigade 42 Pantserinfanteriebataljon Limburgse Jagers
Battles/wars	ISAF Afghanistan SFOR Bosnia and Herzegovina
Awards	Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau Meritorious Service Medal (Canada) Officer in the Legion of Honour (France) Knight Commander's Cross in the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commander of the Legion of Merit[1]

Biography

Mart De Kruif received his military education at the Royal Military Academy in Breda. Later he was also educated at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr and the U.S. Army War College. He held several positions within the Netherlands Army before he became commander of the 43 Gemechaniseerde Brigade in Havelte in 2007.

On 1 November 2008 he was promoted to Major General. On the same day he took over the Regional Command South (RC-S) of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from Canadian Major General Marc Lessard.[2] Under his command the size of RC-S doubled to 40.000 troops. He held this command until 1 November 2009, when he was succeeded by British Major General Nick Carter.

From May 2010 till October 2011 he served as the Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army. Promoted to Lieutenant General on 17 October 2011, de Kruif assumed the post of Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army on 25 October.[3] He retired on 24 March 2016.[4]

References

1. "General Orders No. 2018–33" (PDF). Washington, DC: Headquarters Department of the Army. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
2. Elections 'vital': new NATO chief south Afghanistan, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, October 22, 2008]
3. Appointment news at Dutch ministry of Defence Archived 2012-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Leo Beulen gaat landmacht leiden" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.