Major General A. Richard Laurijssen, Director Policy and Capabilities Division, NATO International Military Staff

Major General Antoine Richard Laurijssen was born on 6 November 1965 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. After his secondary education he was admitted to the Royal Netherlands Military Academy, where he studied electronics from 1984 to 1989.

After graduation in 1989, General Laurijssen was posted as a Lieutenant to the 3rd RNLAF Missile Group in Blomberg, Germany as technical / logistical officer of 328 Squadron, a Hawk air defence unit. In 1991 he participated as senior logistic officer for the battalion in the Gulf War, stationed in Türkiye. Promoted to Captain he became Head of Quality Assurance and Business Process Reengineering Office of 3rd RNLAF Missile Group also serving six months as a UN Military Observer in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia.

General Laurijssen in 1994 became Deputy Head and later Head of the Hawk Office in the Surface to Air Missiles Division of the Directorate of Materiel of the Air Staff in The Hague, and was promoted to the rank of Major. Subsequently, Laurijssen was posted to the Planning Division of the Directorate of Materiel in early 1998, also leading an Electronic Warfare Self Defence Project for Chinook and Cougar helicopters.

In 1999/2000 General Laurijssen attended USAF Air War College in Maxwell, Alabama (USA), graduating in June 2000. Returning to the Netherlands, he was posted to the RNLAF Missile Group at Air Base De Peel as Deputy Commander for Support and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. As such, he commanded the Fact-Finding Mission and Advance Party for the unit's deployment to Türkiye in the framework of the 2003 Gulf War. Later that year Laurijssen was transferred to Rhenen as Commanding Officer of the Logistic Division of the RNLAF Logistic Centre. Promoted to Colonel he changed post 2006 to Gouda as Deputy Commander of the Business Unit Information Services of the Defence’s Support Command, followed in 2008 by an appointment as Head of the Infrastructure Requirements Division of the Staff of the Chief of Defence in The Hague.

General Laurijssen became Head of the Logistics Regulations and Plans Division of the Air Staff in 2011. He was appointed as the Director Weapon Systems & Agencies in the Defence Materiel Organisation and promoted Air Commodore in 2014. Following, in 2017 he was the Director Sustainment and Logistics of the RNLAF, dual-hatted as the Commanding General of the Logistic Centre Woensdrecht. From 2022 until 2024, General Laurijssen has been assigned as Chief of Staff of the NATO Joint Support & Enabling Command (JSEC) in Ulm, Germany. This assignment came with a promotion to the rank of Major General. Since November 2024 he is Director Policy and Capabilities.

Major General Laurijssen has Master’s Degrees in Public Administration from the “Vrije Universiteit” in Amsterdam as well as in Strategic Studies from the USAF Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama (USA). He was awarded the service medals for his participation in the Gulf War of 1991, the United Nations Protection Force in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia and the Gulf War of 2003. In addition, he received the Air Force Service Medal and a medal for 25 years of service as an officer in the Air Force.