Mart de Kruif MSM is a

three-star general Military star ranking is military terminology, used to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One–star A one–star rank is usually the lowest ranking general or flag ...

in the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

and served as its executive commander.

Biography

Mart De Kruif received his

military education Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...

at the Royal Military Academy in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

. Later he was also educated at the

Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr ) , established = 15 May 1957(15 October 1810 as ''Prussian Military Academy'') , type = Staff college and senior military academy of the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr , endowment = , staff = , faculty = , president = , provost = , principal ...

and the

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

. He held several positions within the

Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutch ...

before he became commander of the 43 Gemechaniseerde Brigade in

Havelte Havelte ( Drèents: ''Haovelte'' or ''Haovelt'') is a village in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Westerveld, Drenthe, about 60 km (37.2 mi) south-southwest of Groningen and 120 km (74.5 mi) northeast of ...

in 2007. On 1 November 2008 he was promoted to

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. On the same day he took over the

Regional Command South In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

(RC-S) of the

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

(ISAF) in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

from

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Major General

Marc Lessard Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

. Under his command the size of RC-S doubled to 40.000 troops. He held this command until 1 November 2009, when he was succeeded by British Major General Nick Carter. From May 2010 till October 2011 he served as the Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army. Promoted to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

on 17 October 2011, de Kruif assumed the post of

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 Chief of Defence. The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army is stat ...

on 25 October. He retired on 24 March 2016.Leo Beulen gaat landmacht leiden
(in Dutch), ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'', 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.

References

1958 births Living people Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Army Royal Netherlands Army generals Royal Netherlands Army officers Dutch military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) People from Apeldoorn Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau United States Army War College alumni Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie {{Netherlands-mil-bio-stub