Franklin Ernest "Frank" van Kappen (born 4 August 1941) is a Dutch retired marine and politician. Van Kappen was a career officer in the Netherlands Marine Corps, and served as

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 ...

between 1995 and 1998. He was a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party i ...

between 2007 and 2019.

Career

Van Kappen was born on 4 August 1941 in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

. He received his primary education in the Dutch East Indies, the Netherlands and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

. Between 1955 and 1961 he was enrolled in the Dalton Lyceum in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. The same year he finished highschool he entered the Royal Naval College in Den Helder. Graduating as an officer in 1964 he subsequently served with the Netherlands Marine Corps. Between 1987 and 1988 he attended Naval War College in the United States. Between July 1992 and 1995 he served as brigadier general as commanding officer of the Dutch Armed Forces in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

, concurrently holding command of the Dutch-American Taskforce 4.4. He was promoted to Major general and served as military advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations between 1995 and August 1998. Since 2000 he has been a visiting lecturer at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.

Senate

In 1999 Van Kappen became member of the

and he joined the

for that party on 12 June 2007. In 2009 there was widespread political debate on the continuation of the Dutch military presence in the Afghan province of Uruzgan in the

Task Force Uruzgan Task Force Uruzgan (TFU) was Australia's and the Netherlands' contribution to NATO's Regional Command South, International Security Assistance Force, in Afghanistan. The Dutch led one of the four Provincial Reconstruction Teams in the southern r ...

for 2010. Van Kappen proposed that the Netherlands would continue its military presence, however leave the lead position to another country. Between 2011 and 2015 he was President of the Senate's Permanent Commission on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Aid. Shortly after the 17 July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Eastern Ukraine, the option of sending military commando forces to retrieve the victims was proposed by several politicians because the flight had a majority of Dutch passengers and cooperation with local power holders was difficult. Van Kappen stated that the sending of Dutch forces would be one of the most stupid courses of action. In early 2018 Van Kappen pleaded for a long-term plan for the

armed forces of the Netherlands The Netherlands Armed Forces ( nl, Nederlandse krijgsmacht) are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy (), the Royal Netherlands Ar ...

, a plan with broad political support which would could be sustained over several cabinets. During the

2018 Dutch municipal elections The Dutch municipal elections of 2018 were held on 21 March in 335 municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determined the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years. The election coincided with the Intelligence an ...

Van Kappen was ''

lijstduwer ''Lijstduwer'' (, 'list pusher') is a Dutch term for the last candidate on a party list. In Suriname, the Netherlands and Belgium, this position is often taken by well-known non-politicians such as artists, celebrities and sports people. They ...

'' for his party in Utrechtse Heuvelrug. His term in the Senate ended on 11 June 2019.

Awards

In July 1982 Van Kappen was invested as a Knight of 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 ...

; on 8 June 1995 he was elevated as an Officer of the same order. He received the medal of Naval Almirante Luis Brion of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

on 23 July 1993. Venezuela also awarded him the Order of Naval Merit, first class on 7 July 1995. The United States presented him with 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 u ...

in December 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kappen, Frank van 1941 births Living people Brigadier generals Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Naval War College alumni Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Semarang People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Royal Netherlands Marine Corps generals