The Chief of the Netherlands Defence Staff (CDS) (Dutch: Commandant der Strijdkrachten) is the Dutch Chief of Defence and the highest-ranking officer in the Dutch military.
The main role of the CDS is as an intermediary between the Minister of Defence and the Armed Forces of The Netherlands. He makes operational policy and is responsible to the minister for military-strategic planning, operations and deployment of the Armed Forces.The CDS is the direct commanding officer of the commanders of the branches of the Dutch military:
The branch commanders are responsible for preparedness and actual deployment of their military personnel in The Netherlands and the rest of the world. Regarding operational planning and deployment, the branch commanders take their orders directly from the CDS.
There is a fourth branch of the military, the Royal Marechaussee (essentially the Military Police). This branch does not answer to the CDS, since it is the police force for the entirety of the Dutch Armed Forces. This requires that the Marechaussee be independent, so this branch takes its orders directly from the state secretary for the Ministry of Defence.
In addition to his command tasks, the CDS is the senior military advisor to the minister of Defence.
The current position of CDS (Commandant der Strijdkrachten) is new since 5 september 2005, when it replaced the existing role of Chef-Defensiestaf (which also translates to Chief of the Defence Staff and was also abbreviated as CDS). Just like its predecessor role the position of Commandant der Strijdkrachten will rotate between the branches of the military; the first CDS was general Dick Berlijn, formerly of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. The position of CDS is typically held by a four-star officer (NATO OF-9, meaning a general or a lieutenant admiral), which means that promotion to the position of CDS usually includes a promotion in rank as well.