General Dick Lodewijk Berlijn (born March 18, 1950 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) is a retired

Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

four-star

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

, who served as

Chief of Defence The chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national military position withi ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

( Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff) from 2004, when he succeeded Lt. Adm.

Luuk Kroon Luuk Kroon (born 13 December 1942, Ridderkerk – d. 19 June 2012, The Hague) was a Dutch naval officer. Kroon served as the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy from 1995 to 1998 and Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff from 1998 until 2004 ...

, until 2008, when he was succeeded by Gen. Peter van Uhm. In 2005, the post was renamed from ''Chef-Defensiestaf'' to ''Commandant der Strijdkrachten'' ("Commander of the Armed Forces") following a reorganisation, but the term "Chief of Defence Staff" is still the one usually used in English translations. His office saw Dutch military presence in

Uruzgan Uruzgan (Dari), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot serves as th ...

with

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

, as well as naval contributions to the

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( ar, قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان, he, כוח האו"ם הזמני בלבנון), or UNIFIL ( ar, يونيفيل, he, יוניפי״ל), is a UN peacekeeping m ...

, among other interventions. He has been awarded with the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and the

Legion of merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, and the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

, all in the degree of commander, and the Order of Orange-Nassau with swords. Berlijn graduated from the

Koninklijke Militaire Academie The Royal Military Academy ( nl, Koninklijke Militaire Academie or ''KMA'') is the service academy for the Dutch Army, the Dutch Air Force and the Royal Marechaussee. Located in Breda, Southern Netherlands, the KMA has trained future officers sin ...

in 1973.Dick Berlijn on the NATO website
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Awards and honours

Commander 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. ...

in the

with the Swords
US_Legion_of_Merit_Commander_ribbon

in the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

Cross for the Four Day Marches The Cross for the Four Day Marches ( nl, Vierdaagsekruis) is a Dutch Royal decoration awarded for successful participation in the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen (Vierdaagse in Dutch) held annually at Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The fu ...

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

s Cross

NATO Medal The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium. Ba ...

for the former Yugoslavia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlijn, Dick 1950 births Living people Chiefs of Defence (Netherlands) Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Netherlands) Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Air Force Royal Netherlands Air Force generals Royal Netherlands Air Force officers Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots Dutch military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Military personnel from Amsterdam Members of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Recipients of the Legion of Merit Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie