Lieutenant General Nico Tak

Commander 1 German-Netherlands Corps

Born in 1963, Lieutenant General Nico Tak began his career in 1981 at the Royal Military Academy in Breda, the Netherlands. Between 1985 and 1991 he commanded tank units in 43 Tank Battalion in Langemannshof, Germany, after which he was posted to the Cavalry Training Centre in Amersfoort (NLD).

From 1994 until 1996 he attended both the Army Staff College and the General Staff College in the Netherlands. Following a posting within the Army HQ as G3 Plans from 1996-1998, he attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course 2 in Camberley, UK, from 1998-1999. Whilst there with his family, he gained a Master’s Degree at King’s College, London.

After returning to the Netherlands, he joined the Directing Staff at the Dutch national staff college, followed by a deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina as the military assistant to the division commander MND-SW. Following this, he was posted to the Army Staff as senior policy officer for force development in 2002.

During this time he assisted in establishing the German-Dutch Army Steering Group.

In 2004 he took command of 42 Tank Battalion, deploying units to Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 2006 he deployed with his unit to Uruzgan, Afghanistan, to command the first Dutch Provincial Reconstruction Team. In 2007 he moved with his family to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to attend the US Army War College. He gained his second Master’s Degree at Penn State University.

After another posting to the Army Staff as the senior officer responsible for readiness, he was seconded in 2011 to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Military Adviser. In 2013 he took up the post of Special Adviser to the NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Kabul, Afghanistan. On promotion to Brigadier General in 2014, he became Director of the Comprehensive Crisis and Operations Centre at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium. During his time in this post he was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal.

In 2017 he became Director for Training and Operations of the RNLA, Utrecht (NLD). During this posting he cochaired the German-Dutch Army Steering Group. In 2019 he was promoted to Major General and took over the post as Director for Operational Readiness at the Ministry of Defence in The Hague.

In March 2022, following promotion to Lieutenant General, he assumed command of 1 German-Netherlands Corps.

Lieutenant General Tak is married to Beverley and they have two adult children. He is chairman of the Cavalry Officers Association and vice chairman of the foundation for the Cavalry Guard of Honour. His hobbies include walking, running (nowadays for recreational purposes only) and reading European history.