Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army

Lieutenant general
**Jan Swillens**
Lieutenant general Jan Swillens
	Generaal-majoor Swillens als directeur-MIVD (2019)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 8 March 2024
Preceded by	Martin Wijnen
Personal details
Born	20 August 1967 (age 57); Nijkerk, Netherlands
Military service
Allegiance	Netherlands
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Army
Rank	Lieutenant general
Unit	Korps Commandotroepen

The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army (C-LAS, Dutch: Commandant Landstrijdkrachten) is the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Netherlands Army and reports directly to the Chief of Defence. The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army is statutorily a three-star general. The current C-LAS is Lieutenant General Jan Swillens.

History of the C-LAS

The position of C-LAS was created on 5 September 2005 as part of a thorough reorganization within the Dutch Ministry of Defence in which the staffs (military and civilian) were reduced in size and an entire organizational layer was dropped. prior to the reorganization the commanding officer of the Army was the "Bevelhebber der Landstrijdkrachten" (abbreviated BLS; the term also translates into English as Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army).

Officeholders

Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Army (pre-2005)

1954 - 1957 General Ben Hasselman
1957 - 1962 Lieutenant General Gillis le Fèvre de Montigny
1962 - 1963 Lieutenant General A.V. van den Wall Bake
1964 - 1968 Lieutenant General Frans van der Veen
1968 - 1971 Lieutenant General Willem van Rijn
1972 - 1973 Lieutenant General Gerrit IJsselstein
1973 - 1977 Lieutenant General Jan van der Slikke
1977 - 1980 Lieutenant General Cor de Jager
1980 - 1985 Lieutenant General Han Roos
1985 - 1988 Lieutenant General Peter Graaff
1988 - 1992 Lieutenant General Rien Wilmink
1992 - 1996 Lieutenant General Hans Couzy
1996 - 2001 Lieutenant General Maarten Schouten
2001 - 2002 Lieutenant General Ad van Baal
2002 - 2005 Lieutenant General Marcel Urlings

Commanders of the Royal Netherlands Army

No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Term of office			Ref.
No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1		Lieutenant general Peter van Uhm (born 1955)	5 September 2005	13 March 2008	2 years, 190 days
2		Lieutenant general Rob Bertholee (born 1955)	13 March 2008	25 October 2011	3 years, 226 days
3		Lieutenant general Mart de Kruif (born 1958)	25 October 2011	24 March 2016	4 years, 151 days
4		Lieutenant general Leo Beulen (born 1960)	24 March 2016	28 August 2019	3 years, 157 days	^[1]^[2]
5		Lieutenant general Martin Wijnen (born 1966)	28 August 2019	8 march 2024	4 years, 193 days
6		Lieutenant general Jan Swillens (born 1967)	8 march 2024			^[3]