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 ...

A.G.D. (Ton) van Osch (born 1955) is a senior

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

military commander and past Director General of the

European Union Military Staff The Military Staff of the European Union (EUMS) is the directorate-general of the European Union's (EU) External Action Service (EEAS) that contributes to the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) by providing strategic advice to the Hi ...

Military career

Van Osch joined the Royal Netherlands Military Academy in 1974 and was commissioned as an artillery Officer in 1978. After various appointments, including battery command and assignments within infantry, he attended Staff Course in 1986–87 and subsequently served as a long term planner on the Army Staff. Van Osch attended the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

, followed by a tour as a

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and lecturer in strategy at the Netherlands Defence College, during which time he also studied at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

for a master's degree in Public Administration.Press announcement
of the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...

regarding the change of command on 28 May 2010. His command of 41 Field Artillery Battalion in Germany, from 1993–95, was followed by a planning post with the Defense Staff and the appointment as Head of Operational Policy and Training on the Army Staff. In 1999, during the

Kosovo conflict The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

, Van Osch became Chief Ops (Land) at HQ SFOR and also acted as Chief of the Combined Joint Operations Center during this period. Subsequently, he was appointed as Head of Policy Development for the Directorate of Personnel and Organization of 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 ...

. Directly after

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

he was sent to US Central Command, Tampa, as an operational planner for the conflict 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 ...

. In June 2002 Van Osch was promoted Brigadier General and took over the post of Director of Operations in the

Dutch Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence ( nl, Ministerie van Defensie; MinDef) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for the armed forces of the Netherlands and Veterans Affairs. The Ministry was created in 1813 as the "Ministry of War" and in 1928 was combined ...

. During this period, The Netherlands acted as lead nation in MND-SW in Bosnia, lead nation for Task Force Fox in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and deployed the German Netherlands HQ to Afghanistan. In March 2003 he became the Deputy Chief of Defense Staff for International Planning and Co-operation. In addition, he became the project manager for the integration of the policy headquarters of the services in the MoD. In December 2004 he took over as Commander of the Royal Military Academy with responsibility for the integration of all officer education of the services within the newly formed Netherlands Higher Defense Academy, of which he became its first commandant. In June 2007, Lt Gen van Osch was appointed as the Military Representative of The Netherlands to the EU and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in Brussels. In May 2009 he was elected to become the new

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

of the EU Military Staff as of 28 May 2010. He was succeeded in this capacity by Wolfgang Wosolsobe as of 28 May 2013.

Personal life

Lieutenant General Van Osch is married and has two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osch, Ton Van 1955 births Living people Royal Netherlands Army generals Royal Netherlands Army personnel Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie Directors General of the European Union Military Staff Dutch officials of the European Union