Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army
The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army (C-LAS) (Dutch: Commandant Landstrijdkrachten) is the executive commander of the Royal Netherlands Army and reports directly to the Commander of the Armed Forces (CDS). The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army is statutorily a three-star general. The current C-LAS is Air Defense Artillery Lieutenant General Leo Beulen.
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. Before September 2005 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).
Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Army
- Lieutenant General Peter van Uhm (5 September 2005 – 13 March 2008)
- Lieutenant General Rob Bertholee (13 March 2008 – 25 October 2011)
- Lieutenant General Mart de Kruif (25 October 2011 – 24 March 2016)
- Lieutenant General Leo Beulen (24 March 2016 – present)[1][2]
Deputy Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Army
- 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 - present)
References
- ↑ 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.