Michel Hofman
Michel Hofman serves as the Chief of Defence of the Belgian Armed Forces since 10 July 2020. Prior to his post, he served as the Vice Chief of Defence. Education and Background Hofman finished high school at the Royal Cadet School at Brussels, before entering the Royal Military Academy in 1978 as a candidate naval officer, studying social and military sciences (118th All weapons class). He also studied at the Ecole de Guerre-Terre (formerly College Interarmées de Défense) at France in 2000. He was assigned in several positions on board the ships of the Belgian Navy, ranging from minesweepers, mine hunters and frigates. From 1991 and 1997, he served at the Operations School of the Belgian Navy in Bruges, and later on board the M917 Crocus, where he took part in the operations during the Gulf War, and the F911 Westdiep. He also served at the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (STANAVFORLANT). In autumn 1997, he joined the Chief of Defence staff, Vice Admiral Herteleer. He comm ...
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Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast. History Origin to Middle Ages In the Early Middle Ages, Ostend was a small village built on the east-end () of an island (originally called Testerep) between the North Sea and a beach lake. Although small, the village rose to the status of "town" around 1265, when the inhabitants were allowed to hold a market and to build a market hall. The major source of income for the inhabitants was fishing. The North Sea coastline has always been rather unstable due to the power of the water. In 1395 the inhabitants decided to build a new Ostend behind large dikes and further away from the always-threatening sea. 15th to 18th century The s ...
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Standing NATO Maritime Group 1
Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. History In late November 1966, U.S. Rear Admiral Richard G. Colbert prepared a concept paper proposing a permanent Allied Command Atlantic naval contingency force based on Operation Matchmaker, an annual six-month exercise involving ships from NATO navies. The proposed contingency force was approved by NATO in December 1967 and activated in January 1968 as Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT). During the 1990s, STANAVFORLANT was heavily involved in Operation Maritime Monitor (July 1992 to November 1992), Operation Maritime Guard (November 1992 to June 1993) and Operation Sharp Guard (June 1993 to October 1996), the maritime embargo operations in the Adriatic Sea established to ensure compliance by Serbia and Montenegro with United N ...
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Commemorative Medal For Foreign Operations Or Missions
The Commemorative Medal for Foreign Operations or Missions ( nl, Herinneringsmedaille voor Buitenlandse Opdrachten of Operaties, french: Médaille Commémorative pour Missions ou Opérations à l'Étranger) is a military decoration of Belgium. It was established on 13 April 1993 and is awarded to military and civilian members of the Belgian Armed Forces who participated in operations or missions outside of the territory of Belgium. Insignia The medal is circular and is struck from bronze, the obverse bears the Escutcheon-only version of the Coat of arms of Belgium under the royal crown and surrounded by the text ''Missions ou opérations à l'étranger - Buitenlandse opdrachten of operaties''. The reverse of the medal bears a laurel crown along the outer circumference. The blank area within the wreath may be used to engrave the recipients' name and date of the award. The ribbon is golden with three thin longitudinal stripes of black, green and black near the outer edges. The r ...
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BEL Comm Medal For Foreign Missions Or Operations
BEL can be an abbreviation for: * The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for Belgium * ''BEL'' or bell character in the C0 control code set * Belarusian language, in the ISO 639-2 and SIL country code lists * Bharat Electronics Limited, an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence electronics company * Bellingham (Amtrak station), Washington, United States; Amtrak station code BEL * Behind Enemy Lines (other) * Val de Cães International Airport 3-letter IATA airport code in Belém, Brazil * The ICAO code for Brussels Airlines, a Belgian airline. See also * Bel (other) * Bell (other) * Belle (other) Belle may refer to: * Belle (''Beauty and the Beast'') * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people Brands and enterprises * Belle Air, a former airline with headquarters in Tirana, Albania ...

Military Cross (Belgium)
The Military Cross ( nl, Militair Kruis, french: Croix Militaire) is a military long service decoration of Belgium. It was established by Royal Decree on 11 February 1885 and is awarded to commissioned officers in the Belgian Armed Forces for loyal and uninterrupted service or to Non-Belgian military officers for distinguished service in favor of the Military of Belgium. Award Criteria Belgian Military Officers The Military Cross, second class is awarded to Belgian military officers after 25 years of service. The Military Cross, first class is awarded to Belgian military officers after 25 years of service as a commissioned officer. In the Belgian military, years of actual service are sometimes multiplied with a certain factor when calculating the minimum due time for a long service award (to compensate for service in the air or on the battlefield). No such 'bonifications' may be applied when calculating the time served, required for the award of the Military Cross. Officers of t ...
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BEL Militair Kruis 1klasse BAR
BEL can be an abbreviation for: * The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for Belgium * ''BEL'' or bell character in the C0 control code set * Belarusian language, in the ISO 639-2 and SIL country code lists * Bharat Electronics Limited, an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence electronics company * Bellingham (Amtrak station), Washington, United States; Amtrak station code BEL * Behind Enemy Lines (other) * Val de Cães International Airport 3-letter IATA airport code in Belém, Brazil * The ICAO code for Brussels Airlines, a Belgian airline. See also * Bel (other) * Bell (other) * Belle (other) Belle may refer to: * Belle (''Beauty and the Beast'') * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people Brands and enterprises * Belle Air, a former airline with headquarters in Tirana, Albania ...

Order Of Leopold II
The Order of Leopold II is an order of Belgium and is named in honor of King Leopold II. The decoration was established on 24 August 1900 by Leopold II as Sovereign of the Congo Free State and was in 1908, upon Congo being handed over to Belgium, incorporated into the Belgian awards system. The order is awarded for meritorious service to the sovereign of Belgium, and as a token of his personal goodwill. It can be awarded to both Belgians and foreigners, and is seen as diplomatic gift of merit. The order has become a long service order for people in the civil service and is awarded alternatively with the Order of the Crown, as the Order of Leopold is awarded under rarer circumstances. The order currently stands third after the Order of Leopold (1st) and the Order of the Crown (2nd) in the Belgian honors hierarchy. The Order of Leopold II is awarded by royal decree. Classes The Order of Leopold II is issued in five classes and three medals: * ', who wears the badge on a sash o ...
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BEL Order Of Leopold II - Commander BAR
BEL can be an abbreviation for: * The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for Belgium * ''BEL'' or bell character in the C0 control code set * Belarusian language, in the ISO 639-2 and SIL country code lists * Bharat Electronics Limited, an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence electronics company * Bellingham (Amtrak station), Washington, United States; Amtrak station code BEL * Behind Enemy Lines (other) * Val de Cães International Airport 3-letter IATA airport code in Belém, Brazil * The ICAO code for Brussels Airlines, a Belgian airline. See also * Bel (other) * Bell (other) * Belle (other) Belle may refer to: * Belle (''Beauty and the Beast'') * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people Brands and enterprises * Belle Air, a former airline with headquarters in Tirana, Albania ...

Order Of The Crown (Belgium)
The Order of the Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne, nl, Kroonorde) is a national order of the Kingdom of Belgium. The Order is one of Belgium's highest honors. History The Order was established on October 15, 1897 by King Leopold II * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ... in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State. The order was first intended to recognize heroic deeds and distinguished service achieved for service in the Congo Free State. In 1908, the Order of the Crown was made a national honour of Belgium, junior to the Order of Leopold (Belgium), Order of Leopold. Currently, the Order of the Crown is awarded for services rendered to the Belgian state, especially for meritorious service in public employment. The Order of the Crown is also awarded for dist ...
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BEL Kroonorde Commandeur BAR
BEL can be an abbreviation for: * The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code for Belgium * ''BEL'' or bell character in the C0 control code set * Belarusian language, in the ISO 639-2 and SIL country code lists * Bharat Electronics Limited, an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence electronics company * Bellingham (Amtrak station), Washington, United States; Amtrak station code BEL * Behind Enemy Lines (other) * Val de Cães International Airport 3-letter IATA airport code in Belém, Brazil * The ICAO code for Brussels Airlines, a Belgian airline. See also * Bel (other) * Bell (other) * Belle (other) Belle may refer to: * Belle (''Beauty and the Beast'') * Belle (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Belle (surname), a list of people Brands and enterprises * Belle Air, a former airline with headquarters in Tirana, Albania ...

Order Of Leopold (Belgium)
The Order of Leopold ( nl, Leopoldsorde, french: Ordre de Léopold, ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Leopold I. It consists of a military, a maritime and a civil division. The maritime division is only awarded to personnel of the merchant navy, and the military division to military personnel. The decoration was established on 11 July 1832 and is awarded by Royal order. History When Belgium became independent of the Netherlands, there was an urgent need to create a national honour system that could serve as a diplomatic gift. The national congress provided this exclusive right to the sovereign, this military honour system was written in Article 76. The first King of the Belgians, Leopold I of Belgium, used his constitutional right in a larger way than foreseen: not only military merit, but every service in honour of the Kingdom. Two years ...
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Commander Ordre De Leopold
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example "platoon commander", "brigade commander" and "squadron commander". In the police, terms such as "borough commander" and "incident commander" are used. Commander as a naval and air force rank Commander is a rank used in navies but is very rarely used as a rank in armies. The title, originally "master and commander", originated in the 18th century to describe naval officers who commanded ships of war too large to be commanded by a lieutenant but too small to warrant the assignment of a post-captain and (before about 1770) a sailing master; the commanding officer served as his own master. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no ...
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