Chief of Defence (Netherlands)

Chief of Defence Commandant der Strijdkrachten
Flag of the Chief of Defence
Incumbent General Tom Middendorp since 28 June 2012
Armed forces of the Netherlands
Style	His Excellency
Abbreviation	CHOD
Member of	Central Staff
Reports to	Government of the Netherlands
Nominator	Minister of Defence
Precursor	Chief of the Defence Staff
Formation	5 September 2005
First holder	General Dick Berlijn
Deputy	Vice Chief of Defence
Website	(English) Chief of Defence

The Chief of Defence (CHOD) (Dutch: Commandant der Strijdkrachten) is the highest-ranking military officer in the Armed forces of the Netherlands and is the principal military advisor to the Government of the Netherlands.

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 Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army
• The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force
• The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy

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 Undersecretary for the Ministry of Defence. Since 2010 there is no Undersecretary assigned to the Ministry of Defence.

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.

List of Chiefs of the Defence Staff / Chiefs of Defence

For full list, see List of Chiefs of the Defence Staff. (Dutch)

Chairmen of the United Defence Staff			Military branch	Term of office
		General Henk Zielstra	Royal Netherlands Air Force	5 May 1965 – 30 December 1968 ()
		Lieutenant admiral Hugo van den Wall Bake (1913–1981)	Royal Netherlands Navy	5 January 1969 – 15 January 1972 ()
		General Willem van Rijn (1915–1997)	Royal Netherlands Army	15 January 1972 – 1 November 1973 ()
		General Robbie Wijting (1925–1986)	Royal Netherlands Air Force	1 November 1973 – 10 December 1976 ()
Chiefs of the Defence Staff			Military branch	Term of office
		General Robbie Wijting (1925–1986)	Royal Netherlands Air Force	10 December 1976 – 1 November 1980 ()
		General Cor de Jager (1925–2001)	Royal Netherlands Army	1 November 1980 – 5 July 1983 ()
		General Govert Huijser (1931–2014)	Royal Netherlands Army	5 July 1983 – 10 December 1988 ()
		General Peter Graaff (1936–2014)	Royal Netherlands Army	10 December 1988 – 10 May 1992 ()
		General Arie van der Vlis (born 1940)	Royal Netherlands Army	10 May 1992 – 15 August 1994 ()
		General Henk van den Breemen (born 1941)	Royal Netherlands Marine Corps	15 August 1994 – 5 June 1998 ()
		Lieutenant admiral Luuk Kroon (1942–2012)	Royal Netherlands Navy	5 June 1998 – 5 June 2004 ()
		General Dick Berlijn (born 1950)	Royal Netherlands Air Force	5 June 2004 – 5 September 2005 ()
Chief of Defence			Military branch	Term of office
		General Dick Berlijn (born 1950)	Royal Netherlands Air Force	5 September 2005 – 17 April 2008 ()
		General Peter van Uhm (born 1955)	Royal Netherlands Army	17 April 2008 – 28 June 2012 ()
		General Tom Middendorp (born 1960)	Royal Netherlands Army	17 April 2008 – 28 June 2012 ()

External links

Official

• (English) Ministry of Defence Ministry of Defence