Rob Verkerk | |
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Rob Verkerk, Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy
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Born | 17 April 1960 The Hague |
Allegiance | Netherlands |
Service/ |
Royal Netherlands Navy, Netherlands Marine Corps |
Years of service | 1978–2017 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Battles/wars |
Cold War Bosnian War |
Robert (Rob) Verkerk (Den Haag, 17 April 1960) is a retired officer of the Netherlands Marine Corps. On 26 September 2014 he succeeded Matthieu Borsboom as Commander of the Naval Forces (Dutch: Commandant Zeestrijdkrachten, CZSK).
Verkerk began his career in the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1978 at the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Marine. In 1982 he became officer. After that he underwent commando, parachutist and ski instructor training among other things. He became commanding officer of different Marine platoons, companies and battalions. In the 1990s he was sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Obtaining the rank of a brigadier Verkerk became Director Operations CZSK in 2007 and Commander of the Marine Corps at the same time. In 2012 he was promoted to major general and became Deputy Commander of the Naval Forces.
On 26 September 2014 he followed vice admiral Matthieu Borsboom and became Commander Naval Forces and was promoted to lieutenant general.