Thomas Antonius Middendorp (born 6 September 1960) is a retired

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the Ground warfare, 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 standing a ...

. He served as

Chief of Defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national ...

of the Armed forces of the Netherlands from 28 June 2012 until 3 October 2017. He previously served as the commander of Task Force Uruzgan part of the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

from 2 February 2009 until 3 August 2009.

Early life

Middendorp was born on 6 September 1960 in

Rheden Rheden () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. Population centres Population of the seven villages on 1 January 2024 Topography ''Dutch Topographic map of the municipality of Rheden, Ju ...

in the

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

Military career

Middendorp joined the Dutch Army in 1979, attending officers training at the Koninklijke Militaire Academie 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. ...

. Opting to join the Engineering Corps, he followed up his academy training with an additional one-year course at the Engineering Training Centre in Vught. Having completed his training, Middendorp was posted to Ermelo in 1984 where he was given command of an armored engineering unit. He held this command for two years, after which (in 1986) he was transferred to

. He was posted to the Defence Real Estate Management Agency regional directorate as head of the project management agency. In 1989 he was transferred to the Dutch Army base in Seedorf, where he assumed the command of the B

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

, 41st Engineering

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

. From 1992 to 1994 Middendorp attended Command School : ''Hogere Militaire Vorming''. Following this training he was posted to the Army staff and put in charge of developing and implementing new real estate management policy in light of the deactivation of the Dutch

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

. Completing this posting Middendorp 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 ...

starting in 1996. In 1997 Middendorp was assigned the post of military assistant to the Deputy Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff. Following this posting he was reassigned to

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

in 1999, as chief of the National Planning Bureau for the I. German/Dutch Corps. He held this post until 2001, when he was given command of the 101 Engineering

Wezep Wezep is a town in the municipality of Oldebroek, Netherlands. Located in the province of Gelderland, it had about 13,500 inhabitants in 2012.''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005. The Wezep railway station, lo ...

. As first commander of this battalion he was responsible for setting up the battalion and during the next years commanded it through missions in Bosnia-Hercegovina, the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Following this command, Middendorp was promoted to

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 ...

and posted to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

as policy coordinator for the chief director of general affairs. In this posting he advised the minister of defence on national deployment of the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

and established several cooperation agreements between the

and other ministries. Towards the end of 2006, Middendorp was posted overseas for his first tour in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, as Senior Political Advisor and Deputy NATO Senior Civil Representative (SCR). Mid-2007 he did a short stint with the Dutch Army Command as head of the Command Support Department; he was given command of the 13th Mechanised Brigade in Oirschot on 11 January 2008. He was posted back to

in February 2009 as commanding officer of the multinational Task Force Uruzgan (TFU6, specifically). Returning to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

he was promoted to major-general in August 2009, and was appointed director of operations of the Royal Netherlands Defence Staff on 24 December. Koning en strijdkrachten-1

The minister of defence announced Middendorp's selection as next

chief of defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national ...

on 28 September 2011. In preparation for his new role, Middendorp was promoted

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

on 1 January 2012 and placed in charge of projects and operations at the Defence Staff. He was promoted Four-star general on 28 June 2012, the date on which general Peter van Uhm transferred command of the Netherlands Defence Staff to him. In 2014 he carried the sword of state during the inauguration of Willem-Alexander in his capacity as Chief of Defense. On 28 February 2017 Middendorp was appointed an honorary

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO). He was invested by the Governor General of Australia Sir Peter Cosgrove. On 11 January 2018 King

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

appointed Middendorp as adjutant in extraordinary service of the King.

Resignation

Middendorp resigned on 3 October 2017 following the publication of a critical report into the death of two Dutch soldiers in a training accident in MaliMali: 2 Peacekeepers Die in Crash
''The Associated Press'' via ''The New York Times'', March 17, 2015 and the resignation of

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. Lieutenant admiral Rob Bauer took on as Chief of Defence.

References

External links

;Official * {{DEFAULTSORT:Middendorp, Tom 1960 births Living people Chiefs of Defence (Netherlands) Dutch expatriates in Germany Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie Royal Netherlands Army generals Royal Netherlands Army officers People from Rheden Honorary officers of the Order of Australia