Ton van Loon (born October 10, 1956, in

Weert Weert (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and city in the southeastern Netherlands located in the western part of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. It lies on the Eindhoven–Maas ...

) is a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

from the Netherlands. He is a

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 ...

employed by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

who took control 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 ...

(ISAF), Regional Command South (RC-S) on November 1, 2006, until May 1, 2007. From April 13, 2010, until September 25, 2013, he commanded I. German/Dutch Corps. He is married and has two children.

Biography

Van Loon was born on

into a military family. He is the son of a

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned Military rank, rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's ...

in the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

. Van Loon enrolled in the

Koninklijke Militaire Academie The Royal Military Academy ( or ''KMA'') is the service academy for the Dutch Army, the Dutch Air Force and the Royal Marechaussee. Located in Breda, Southern Netherlands, the KMA has trained future officers since 1828. Description The KMA o ...

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. ...

in 1977. Graduating from the academy in 1981 he was assigned to the 41st Artillery Battalion stationed in Seedorf. He held several different positions with the 41st before returning to The Netherlands to continue his military education. Starting in 1990, Van Loon attended the Royal Netherlands Army Staff College at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, following staff officer training courses. This led to a staff officer position with the 13th Mechanized Brigade in

Oirschot Oirschot (; ''Orskot'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and town in the province of North Brabant (Noord-Brabant) in the southern Netherlands. It is from Eindhoven and from Tilburg. The municipality had a population of in . Populat ...

starting in 1992. In this position, he was able to leverage and solidify his earlier experiences in international military cooperation by organizing the first rotations 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 ...

at the (US) Combat Manoeuvre and Training Centre in Hohenfels. He also gained experience with modern training methods when he played a leading role in the introduction of instrumented training in the Army. In 1995 he attended the British

Army Command and Staff College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Cent ...

, after which he returned to international military cooperation with a staff position at the I. German/Dutch Corps in

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 ...

. As a staff officer in charge of training, he organized several large training exercises and worked on further command integration until March 1998 when he was assigned command of the 11th Artillery Battalion. As Battalion Commander he was deployed to

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

in 1999 as part of the KFOR1 Multinational Brigade South (under German command). He received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

for his leadership efforts in this mission, Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. From June 2000 to January 2004 Van Loon served on the Staff of the Royal Netherlands Army in

. In this period he was promoted twice (first 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 ...

, then to brigadier general) and held the Chief of Operations position. Again he focused on military cooperation with the

German Armed Forces The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: German Army, ...

, becoming part of the cooperative triangle. On January 8, 2004, he was assigned command of the 43rd Mechanized Brigade in

Havelte Havelte (Drèents dialects, Drèents: ''Haovelte'' or ''Haovelt'') is a village in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is located in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Westerveld, Drenthe, about 60 km (37.2 mi) south-sou ...

. Under his command, this brigade developed into the nucleus of the Land Component Multinational Brigade of NATO Response Force 4.

awarded him the

NATO Meritorious Service 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 ...

for this command. On October 13, 2006, Van Loon was promoted to the rank of major general, ahead of his deployment to

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 ...

. Starting November 1 he assumed command of the Regional Command South and was stationed in

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

. During this posting, he conducted several operations and continued NATO efforts to implement the 3D (defense, diplomacy, development) program. His involvement with

ISAF 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 Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

continued after his return to The Netherlands, where he served as a senior mentor in a number of pre-deployment exercises and as a subject lecturer. Returning to Dutch-German cooperation efforts, Van Loon reported to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

in August 2007. There he served at the Allied Land Component Command Headquarters until April 2010 as chief of staff, in a period that the Headquarters was transformed into a force command providing deployable teams at the operational level. Early in 2010 one of these teams was deployed to

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, to the ISAF Headquarters. At that occasion, Van Loon was presented with the Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr in Gold for "his career-long efforts to improve Dutch-German cooperation". On April 1, 2010, he was promoted to

ahead of his April 13 assignment to the I. German/Dutch Corps as Corps Commander. On September 25, 2013, he handed his command over to the I. German/Dutch Corps over to the German Lt Gen Volker Halbauer. Upon his retirement, he was awarded by Germany with the Grand Merit Cross with Star

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

and he was promoted to Officer in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () 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 performed acts of special merits for ...

with swords. Nieuwe commandant voor Duits Nederlands Legercorps
Website Dutch Ministry of Defence