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 ...

Gerard Van Caelenberge is a Belgium Air Force general, he was Air Component Commander in 2006 to 2008 and Chief of Defence of the Kingdom of Belgium in March 2012 until retired in July 2016. He was an expertise and member of the

NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence NATO CCD COE, officially the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence ( et, italic=yes, K5 or ''NATO küberkaitsekoostöö keskus''), is one of NATO Centres of Excellence, located in Tallinn, Estonia. The centre was established on 14 ...

. Van Caelenberge was born September 6, 1952 in Antwerp, he attended Collège Saint Michel Brasschaat and graduated from the Royal Cadets School Lier in 1970. He enrolled in the Royal Military Academy as student pilot of the polytechnic division graduated in 1975, he was trained on the Marchetti SF-260,

Fouga Magister Fouga (also known as Air Fouga) was a French manufacturing company established by Gaston Fouga at Béziers during 1920. Originally specialising in the repair of railway rolling stock, the firm eventually became most noted for the aircraft it p ...

and

T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

Brustem Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The muni ...

. He went on to obtained his pilots wings in 1977 and was trained on F-104G Startfighter. He was assigned to 350th Squadron of 1st Fighter Wing Beauvechain and attends a conversion of F-16 specific in electronic warfare. He also attends the Royal Defence College for staff course 1984 and was back to the 350th Squadron. He was later assigned to AirForce Staff operations section in charge of Air Defence in 1985 and later went on to the Royal Defence College to complete his Senior Staff Course in 1987 and after completing he was the commander of the F-16 350th Squadron. He also commanded the Flying Group of the 1st Fighter Wing in Beauvechain base in 1995 and after attending a training, he was the instructor on

Alpha-jet The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a attack aircraft, light attack jet aircraft, jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer a ...

and Marchetti SF-260 in 1996 before he became the commander of Beauvechain airbase and the Flying Group Commander of the Centralised Flying Schools. He also went to the NATO Defence College Rome for a senior course in 1997, he commanded the

10th Tactical Wing {{Infobox military unit , unit_name = 10th Tactical Wing , image = 10 Wing (Belgium).png , image_size = 150px , caption = , dates = December 1951–present , country = {{flag, Belgium, 23px , allegiance = , branch = {{air force, Belgium, ...

in Kleine Brogel Base in 2001/2002 before he was moved to Defence Staff Operations and Training Department in 2004 and there after he was Deputy Operations Commander in 2005. He became Aide-de-Camp to the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

in 2005 to 2006 were he later made the

Air Component The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne bel ...

Commander to 2008 and was also the Director of the

European Air Group The European Air Group (EAG) is an independent defence organisation, formed by the Air Forces of its seven member states: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The EAG is focused on improving interoperability ...

. He did serves as Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training in 2009 to 2011 and rose to the rank of

Air Chief Marshall Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

(air general) before he was made the interim Chief of Defence in 2012 and continued until he retired in July 2016.

Awards

Commander,

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

Order of the Crown * BEL_Order_of_Leopold_II_-_Commander_BAR

Commander,

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 Belgi ...

First Class,

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

BEL_Comm_Medal_for_Foreign_Missions_or_Operations

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 ...

Medaille_Merite_Militaire_Belgique_Ribbon

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

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 ...

Personal life

Van Caelenberge is married to Anne Van den Berghe with two children.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caelenberge, Van Living people Belgian generals Belgian military personnel 1952 births