He [Peter van Uhm, R.] has been untill 2009.
Not long ago we welcomed a new commander (CDS or Commandant der Strijdkrachten) Mart de Kruif.
He took over command from general Rob Bertholee.
Are you sure?
With all due respect, my information differs significantly, both for the role of P. v. Uhm as well as for the role of M. d. Kruif:
I still have van Uhm down pat as the Highest Commander of Dutch Armed forces, until mid 2012 when
he will be relieved by Maj. General Tom Middendorp:
Nieuwsbericht | 28-09-2011
Generaal-majoor Tom Middendorp volgt medio 2012 generaal Peter van Uhm op als Commandant der Strijdkrachten. Generaal van Uhm gaat dan met leeftijdsontslag.
I am basing this on the published
information from the Dutch Ministry of Defense in the internet, but I might be wrong of course and apologize beforehand should I have messed up things (I only follow personal organisation of European Armed Forces from a distance, German and Spanish Forces being my main focus). The Dutch Defense Ministry page states about P. v. Uhm:
De Commandant der Strijdkrachten is de hoogste militair binnen Defensie en daarmee de belangrijkste militaire adviseur van de minister. Hij is namens de minister verantwoordelijk voor de uitvoering van de militaire operaties van Defensie.
Overall organization (on the English page) is described as follows (highlighting by me):
The Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff (CDS) (Dutch: Commandant der Strijdkrachten) is the Dutch Chief of Defence and the highest-ranking officer in the Dutch military.
The main role of the CDS is as an intermediary between the Minister of Defence and 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 CDS is the direct commanding officer of the commanders of the branches of the Dutch military
OTOH Lt. General Mart de Kruif I have noted down in my spreadsheet as the Commander of the Royal Dutch Army, one commander out of 4 branches,
and as such a subordinate to General v. Uhm: According to the Dutch Ministry of Defense the C-LAS is the military advisor to the CDS, and the slot filled by de Kruif:
Luitenant-generaal De Kruif werd op 25 oktober 2011 Commandant Landstrijdkrachten (C-LAS) als opvolger van luitenant-generaal Rob Bertholee.
De Commandant Landstrijdkrachten (C-LAS) voert het commando over de landstrijdkrachten. Hij is 'baas' van de landmacht en verantwoordelijk voor de gereedstelling van operationele landmachteenheden.
Hij is dé adviseur voor de Commandant der Strijdkrachten (CDS) als het over het optreden van de landmacht gaat. In voorkomend geval treedt hij ook in deze rol op voor bewindslieden.
So I take from all this that
Peter van Uhm is still currently your highest military commander in the Netherlands, and
Mart De Kruif commander of (and v. Uhms´ assistant for) the Royal Netherlands
Army ?
Please clarify, I find myself being confused, and I thought I had a good tab on European command structures...
Rattler
