Later he was also educated at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr and the U.S. Army War College.

He held several positions within the Netherlands Army before he became commander of the 43 Gemechaniseerde Brigade in Havelte in 2007.

On the same day he took over the Regional Command South (RC-S) of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from Canadian Major General Marc Lessard.

He held this command until 1 November 2009, when he was succeeded by British Major General Nick Carter.

[citation needed] From May 2010 till October 2011 he served as the Deputy Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army.