NATO C O M M U N I T A T E V A L E M U S OTAN 1 ( G e r m a n / N e t h e r l a n d s ) C o r p s

CURRICULUM VITAE

Lieutenant General Ton van Loon Commanding General 1 (German/Netherlands) Corps

Lieutenant General Ton van Loon was born on October 10 th 1956 in Weert, son of a sergeant major in the infantry. After graduating from high school Ton van Loon started his military career in 1977 as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy in Breda. During the first years of his career he held several posts with 41 Artillery Battalion in Seedorf, Germany.

From 1990 until 1992 he attended the Dutch Staff College in The Hague, after which he served for three years as G3 with 13 Mechanised Brigade in Oirschot. During this period he organised the first rotations of the Dutch army at the (US) Combat Manoeuvre and Training Centre in Hohenfels, Germany, and played a leading role in the introduction of instrumented training in the .

In 1995 he studied at the Army Command and Staff College in the UK. After his return to the Netherlands he was posted to the staff of 1 (German/Netherlands) Corps in Münster, Germany. As G3 training and exercises he organized several exercises and helped put into practice the vision of deepened integration.

In March 1998 he was appointed of 11 Artillery Battalion. With this battalion he deployed in 1999 to Kosovo as part of the German led Multinational Brigade South in KFOR1. For his leadership in this mission he was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Between June 2000 and January 2004 Van Loon held several positions at the Royal Netherlands Army Staff in The Hague including Chief of the Operations branch. He was again involved in further developing the close cooperation with Germany as part of the triangle. During this period he was promoted to Colonel and Brigadier General.

On the 8th of January 2004 he was appointed Commander of 43 Mechanized Brigade in Havelte. The Brigade became the nucleus of the Land Component Multinational Brigade of the NATO Response Force 4 (January – June 2005). For his role as Commander of this multinational brigade, Van Loon received the NATO Meritorious Service Medal.

On the 13th of October 2006 Brigadier General Ton van Loon was promoted to Major General and on the November 1st he became Commander of Regional Command South in . During his tenure in he led several operations and particularly worked to implement the so called 3D (defence, diplomacy, development) approach. After returning he stayed involved in the ISAF mission both as a senior mentor in numerous preparation exercises and as a lecturer.

Between August 2007 and April 2010 Major General Van Loon was Chief of Staff of Allied Land PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE Component Command Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. In that timeframe this headquarters HINDENBURGPLATZ 71 transformed into a force command, providing deployable teams at the operational level. Early D-48143 MÜNSTER 2010 one of these teams was deployed to the ISAF HQ in . For his efforts to improve GERMANY NL/GE cooperation throughout his career he was awarded the German “Ehrenkreuz der

Bundeswehr” in gold. PHONE : +49 251 506 2092 On the April 1 st 2010 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and on the 13 th that month he FAX : became Commander of 1 (German/Netherlands) Corps in Münster, Germany. +49 251 45270

E-MAIL : Lieutenant General Ton van Loon is married and has two children. With his daughter he shares a PAO (AT ) 1GNC .ORG passion for riding horses and with his son an interest in computers and computer games.

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