Alexander Schnitger (November 11, 1958 – June 27, 2020) was a general in the

Royal Netherlands Air Force The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF; , "Royal Air Force") is the military aviation branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was created in 1953 to succeed its predecessor, the ''Luchtvaartafdeling'' () of the Dutch Army, which was founded ...

who served as Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force.

Biography

Schnitger was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, and 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 Military Academy in

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. He continued his training at

Sheppard Air Force Base Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Educatio ...

and received his wing in March 1984. Back home in the Netherlands he was appointed pilot at the 314 squadron at

Eindhoven Airport Eindhoven Airport is an international airport located west of Eindhoven, Netherlands. In terms of the number of served passengers, it is the second largest airport in the Netherlands, with 6.8 million passengers in 2023. The airport is used by ...

. In 1988 he was the team lead of 'Double Dutch' the NF-5 demoteam of the Royal Netherlands Air Force at that time. In 1990 he was trained for the F-16 and assigned to the 312 squadron at

Volkel Air Base Volkel Air Base () is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) - Dutch: ''Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu)'', located near the village of Volkel, Netherlands. Located in the north-east corner of the province of North Braban ...

. In 2001 he was appointed as Planner of the

Ministry of Defence (Netherlands) The Ministry of Defence (; 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 with the Ministry of the Navy. ...

. In this capacity he was involved in major restructuring operation of the

Dutch Armed Forces The Netherlands Armed Forces () are the military forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (mainland Netherlands in Europe and islands of the Dutch Caribbean). The armed forces consist of four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy (), the ...

. In 2004 he was Director of Operations in the

CAOC Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOCs) are multinational headquarters for tactical and operational control of NATO Air Forces below the Joint Force Command level. They operate within the NATO Integrated Air Defense System (NATINADS) framework. ...

4 in Messstetten, Germany being promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. Schnitger was appointed Commander of

in 2005. Three years later, in 2008, he was promoted to

Air commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

and appointed Director of Operations at the Air Force Staff of the

. His appointment as Director of Operational Needs, Policy and Planning Division at the

followed in December 2009 while being promoted to Major General. He was Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force from March 9, 2012, till June 10, 2016. He died at the age of 61 on June 27, 2020.Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force lt.-gen. Luyt
reporting Schnitgers' death on Twitter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnitger, Sander 1958 births 2020 deaths Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Air Force Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots Royal Netherlands Air Force generals Military personnel from Rotterdam