Lieutenant General Broeks, Director General of the NATO International Military Staff, ends his tenure

Lt Gen Broeks is a three star General in the Royal Netherlands Army who was nominated for this role by the Allied Chiefs of Defence in September 2015. He took over the position of DGIMS from Air Marshal Sir Christopher Harper on 27 July 2016.

During his tenure, Lt Gen Broeks led work on the NATO Command Structure Adaptation, the NATO Military Strategy, the NATO Headquarters Functional Review, the implementation of decisions taken at the Warsaw Summit and the Brussels Summit, and the move of the IMS over to the new NATO Headquarters, among many other tasks. The Director General also undertook official country visits to NATO Allies and Partner countries, communicating on NATO’s role and responsibilities and ongoing tasks.

Speaking at his last IMS Town Hall meeting, Lt Gen Broeks stated:

‘I lead to serve; serve and empower the personnel of the International Military Staff as you are the experts on how to provide the best military-consensual-advice. I have not regretted a single day nor minute for this approach. We, the Directors, their deputies and myself, we should enable and empower you – the great IMS work force – to do your job. We can and should continue to rely on you because you deliver quality work on time’

Upon conclusion of the Town Hall, Lt Gen Broeks proceeded to a Military Committee in Permanent Session meeting where he was bid farewell by the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach.

During his farewell remarks to Lt Gen Broeks, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach emphasised:

“You are respected as a consummate professional across the NATO headquarters and the Chain of Command. Your staff in the IMS admire you deeply. A sign of a great leader is someone who inspires others. This can be clearly seen in the IMS, where your staff work diligently to support the Military Committee, under your guidance, advice and direction.”

On behalf of the NATO Secretary General, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach then awarded Lt Gen Broeks the NATO Meritorious Medal.  The medal is awarded to recognize outstanding service to the Alliance.

Surrounded by Military Committee, Strategic Command and Partner Nation representatives, DGIMS’s final farewell was delivered in the NATO HQ by Deputy Secretary General, Rose Gottemoeller. The Deputy Secretary General highlighted the important collaboration between the political and military staffs, thanking Lt Gen Broeks for his valuable contribution to the Alliance.

Lt Gen Broeks, accompanied by his wife, then left the NATO Headquarters through a corridor of IMS personnel who had all gathered to farewell their Director General.

The IMS is the executive body of the NATO Military Committee, which is NATO’s senior military authority. The IMS prepares assessments and studies on NATO military issues identifying areas of strategic and operational interest and most importantly, proposes courses of action. The IMS enables the National Military Representatives to deal with military issues rapidly and effectively ensuring that the Military Committee provides the North Atlantic Council consensus based advice on all military aspects of policy, operations, and transformation within the Alliance.