Rob Bauer

His Excellency

Rob Bauer
His Excellency; Rob Bauer
	Bauer in 2017
Birth name	Robert Peter Bauer
Born	11 November 1962 (age 61); Amsterdam, Netherlands
Allegiance	Netherlands
Service / branch	Royal Netherlands Navy
Years of service	1981–present
Rank	Lieutenant admiral
Commands	Chief of Defense; Vice Chief of Defence; Director of Plans; HNLMS Johan de Witt; HNLMS De Ruyter
Battles / wars	War on Terror Piracy in Somalia; Operation Atalanta; ; Operation Active Endeavour;

Robert Peter "Rob" Bauer (born 11 November 1962) is a lieutenant admiral in the Royal Netherlands Navy serving as Chief of Defence (Dutch: Commandant der Strijdkrachten) since 5 October 2017.^[1] Prior to his post, he served as the Vice Chief of Defence of the Armed forces of the Netherlands from 1 September 2015 to 13 July 2017.^[2]

Background

He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy through the Royal Naval College (Netherlands) in 1981 until commissioned as a naval commander in 1984. He also completed the Advanced Strategic and General Studies Programme in 1998.^[3]

He commanded the HNLMS De Ruyter (F804) in 2005-2007, his command also includes the operational deployment in the Mediterranean with the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 as part of the NATO Response Force (Operation Active Endeavour). He was deployed in Bahrain in 2006 as the Deputy Commander of Task Force 150 in the Operation Enduring Freedom. He also commanded the HNLMS Johan de Witt (L801) in 2010-2011.

He was promoted to commodore in 2011 and appointed as Deputy Director of Plans for Operational Policy and Innovation, focusing on the future defense fields of The Netherlands. In 2012, he was promoted to rear admiral and appointed as Director of Plans. He was also a member of the Council for Defence Research and Development, the National Council for Cyber Security and the Netherlands Coast Guard Council. He also served as the Chairman of the Defence Business Platform and also became a board member of the Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei (National Committee for 4 and 5 May).

On 22 September 2015, he held the position as the Vice Chief of Defence, and was promoted to vice admiral, who serves as the assistant of the Chief of Defence. On July 2017, he handed his position as the Vice Chief of Defence to Lieutenant General Martin Wijnen, in order to prepare for his post as Chief of Defence. He became the Chief of Defence on 5 October 2017, after the resignation of Tom Middendorp and then-Minister of Defence Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in the aftermath of the death of two Dutch soldiers in a training accident in Mali.^[4] He was promoted to lieutenant admiral on October 5, 2017.^[5]

On 9 October 2020, he was elected by various Allied Chiefs of Defence from the NATO Military Committee as the new Chairman of the NATO Military Committee,^[6] the senior military adviser to the Secretary General of NATO. Admiral Bauer will take up the position replacing Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, following the end of his tenure in June 2021.