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Ulm, Germany, January 17, 2022 - Lieutenant General Jürgen Knappe, Commander of the Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), officially introduced and welcomed his new Chief of Staff, Royal Netherlands Air Force Major General Richard Laurijssen.

Major General Richard Laurijssen was born on November 6, 1965 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Prior to his assignment as the JSEC Chief of Staff in Ulm, Germany, he simultaneously served as the Director of Materiel Sustainment of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, and as the Commander of the Logistics Center Woensdrecht.

Laurijssen started his military career in 1984 at the Royal Military Academy in Breda, the Netherlands. As he progressed through the ranks, he held various command positions in Royal Netherlands Air Force units, as well as leading staff positions at the General Divisions of the Air Force Staff, the Integral Plans Branch of the Defence Staff and the Defence Material Organisation. In 2000, Laurijssen completed his advanced staff course at the Air War College with a Master's degree in Strategic Studies, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama (US).

He went on several deployments, including Turkey during first and second Gulf War, as well as being a UN observer in the former Yugoslavia for six months.

I always loved to work with different nations, different cultures, and above all different people.

"Staff work is teamwork," Laurijssen addressed the members of his staff directorates, "I've had a wonderful first impression, it's my first appointment in NATO and I always loved to work with different nations, different cultures, and above all different people. Given the complex and dynamic environment, it is key that we forge a strong team to fulfill the important contribution of JSEC to NATO and the Nations. That requires new, smarter ways of doing things. I am very much looking forward to playing my role in the team to achieve exactly that."

The Chief of Staff serves as the principal advisor to the JSEC Commander on all matters related to JSEC operations, missions, activities and tasks. His duty also includes leading and coordinating the JSEC directorates and overseeing the management of personnel representing more than twenty allied nation's service members and civilians.