Lieutenant General Jan Broeks

Lieutenant General Jan Broeks (born in 1959) studied from 1977 till 1981 at the Royal Military Academy in the city of Breda. After he had finished his study, he was – as 2nd Lieutenant – posted at 103 (NLD) Supply Battalion.

From 1983 till 1984 1st Lieutenant Jan Broeks was Chief Logistics Officer of a helicopter squadron.

In 1985 a tour of duty in Lebanon ensued. Within the framework of the UNIFIL mission, he became Commander of the Logistic Platoon supporting the Dutch Infantry Company. He was temporary promoted to Captain for the duration of the mission.

Upon coming back to The Netherlands, and after a short spell at the staff of the (NLD) Army Logistic Command, he – as a Captain – took command over 112 (NLD) Mixed Supply Company.  This happened in January 1986. In 1989 he moved on to a position within the G2/3 branch of HQ 103 (NLD) Supply Battalion.

From 1990 till 1992 Captain Jan Broeks passed Staff College and subsequently General Staff College.

In 1992, by then a Major, he became staff officer Logistic Operations with G4 branch at GHQ 1st (NLD) Army Corps in Apeldoorn.

In 1994 he and his family lived in the United Kingdom, where he studied at the Command and Staff College at Camberley.

Upon returning in 1995 he took a seat as lecturer in Strategic Studies at the Netherlands’ Institute for Defence Studies.

In 1996, following a promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel, he got postings both with the Directorate of Army Material and Army Command.

From 1998 till the beginning of 2000 he commanded 100 (NLD) Supply & Transport Battalion. It was during this period that he was on mission for the KFOR operation in the capacity of Deputy CO 1 (NLD) Humanitarian Relief Battalion KFOR.

Returned out of Kosovo, he got a posting as Army Planner at the Defence Staff. In 2001 followed his promotion to full Colonel, still at Defence Staff but now as Chief International Plans.

In 2003 Colonel Jan Broeks became Head of the Department for General Policies as part of the Army Command Staff.

In 2005 when Army Command changed into Command Land Forces, he moved to the position of Head of the Department for Management Support.

On the 1st of June 2007 he was promoted Brigadier and on the 14th of that same month he took command over 1 (NLD) Logistic Brigade. As of 2009 1 (NLD) Logistic Brigade was amalgamated with the Combat Support Brigade into a new unit, Land Operations Support Command. Brigadier Broeks was the 1st commander of this command. From January 2010 he has prepared his units for the redeployment-mission in Uruzgan and as of August 1st he has commanded the mission-tailored Redeployment TaskForce. 

Returned from his deployment Brigadier Broeks took on his new appointment as Deputy Director for Plans at the Netherlands Defence Staff as of April 2011.

1st of Januari 2012 Broeks was promoted to Major-General and became responsible for the execution of the transformation and reorganization /budget reduction program of the NLD Armed Forces and the MOD.

On 15 April 2013, he assumed the position of Military Representative of the Netherlands to the Military Committees of NATO and the EU, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Lieutenant General Broeks is married to Hilde Broeks-Heemskerk, and they have two children, a daughter named Myrna (born: 1989), and a son named Thijmen (born: 1992)

Lieutenant General Broeks has a wide range of hobbies, among them: long distance running, mountain biking, soccer, mountain hiking in Austria, reading and music.