The commander of the Royal Netherlands Army (C-LAS, Dutch: ) is the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Netherlands Army and reports directly to the chief of defence. The commander of the Royal Netherlands Army is statutorily a three-star general. The current C-LAS is Lieutenant General Jan Swillens.
History of the C-LAS
The position of C-LAS was created on 5 September 2005 as part of a thorough reorganization within the Dutch Ministry of Defence in which the staffs (military and civilian) were reduced in size and an entire organizational layer was dropped. prior to the reorganization the commanding officer of the Army was the "Bevelhebber der Landstrijdkrachten" (abbreviated BLS; the term also translates into English as Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army).
Officeholders Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Army (pre-2005) 1954 - 1957 General Ben Hasselman 1957 - 1962 Lieutenant General Gillis le Fèvre de Montigny 1962 - 1963 Lieutenant General A.V. van den Wall Bake 1964 - 1968 Lieutenant General Frans van der Veen 1968 - 1971 Lieutenant General Willem van Rijn 1972 - 1973 Lieutenant General Gerrit IJsselstein 1973 - 1977 Lieutenant General Jan van der Slikke 1977 - 1980 Lieutenant General Cor de Jager 1980 - 1985 Lieutenant General Han Roos 1985 - 1988 Lieutenant General Peter Graaff 1988 - 1992 Lieutenant General Rien Wilmink 1992 - 1996 Lieutenant General Hans Couzy 1996 - 2001 Lieutenant General Maarten Schouten 2001 - 2002 Lieutenant General Ad van Baal 2002 - 2005 Lieutenant General Marcel Urlings
Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Army
Portrait Name Term of office Took office Left office Time in office 1 Lieutenant generalPeter van Uhm 5 September 2005 13 March 2008 2 Lieutenant generalRob Bertholee 13 March 2008 25 October 2011 3 Lieutenant generalMart de Kruif 25 October 2011 24 March 2016 4 Lieutenant generalLeo Beulen 24 March 2016 28 August 2019 Commandant Landstrijdkrachten (in Dutch), Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 27 March 2016."Leo Beulen gaat landmacht leiden" (in Dutch), NRC Handelsblad, 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016. 5 Lieutenant generalMartin Wijnen 28 August 2019 8 march 2024 6 Lieutenant generalJan Swillens 8 march 2024 Incumbent
Deputy Commanders Major General Lex Oostendorp (5 September 2005 – 25 November 2007) Major General Marcel van den Broek (26 November 2007 – March 2010) Major General Mart de Kruif (March 2010 – October 2011) Major General Marc van Uhm (October 2011 – January 2016) Major General Martin Wijnen (January 2016 – July 2017) Major General Kees Matthijssen (July 2017 – October 2019) Major General Rob Jeulink (October 2019 – present)
See also Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy
References
External links Official website at the Dutch Ministry of Defence