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Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy
Curriculum Vitae of Vice Admiral Matthieu J.M. Borsboom, the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
Vice Admiral Matthieu Borsboom was born in 1959 in The Hague. He joined the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1978 as midshipman. Receiving his commission in 1981, he served on the flagship HNLMS Tromp, as navigation officer on the minesweeper HNLMS Naaldwijk (in STANAVFORCHAN) and as senior officer on the minehunter HNLMS Veere. In 1983, after completing a year of further study at the University of Groningen, he became senior officer on the patrol vessel HNLMS Hadda.
In 1986, he graduated as Principal Warfare Officer at the Operational School in Den Helder and subsequently served on the air defence frigate HNLMS Witte de With. After serving on the flagship HNLMS De Ruyter, he became Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) officer and later head of the Operational service on the S-class frigate HNLMS Piet Hein.
In 1989, he was posted with the Operational School as head of the ASW Systems department.
In 1991, Borsboom, by then lieutenant commander, was transferred to the operational division of the Centre for Automation of Weapon and Command Systems (CAWCS).
In 1993, he returned to sea to serve on the M-class frigate HNLMS Willem van der Zaan (which participated in the UN operation Support Democracy near Haiti) and later on the S-class frigate HNLMS Philips van Almonde as First Officer. In 1996, he attended the Advanced Defence Studies at the Netherlands Defence College.
In November 1998, he was promoted to the rank of Commander and became head of the Underwater Sensors Office at the Materiel Division of the Ministry of Defence in The Hague for a period of 2 years.
In November 1998, he assumed command of the M-class frigate HNLMS Tjerk Hiddes. From March 1999 until June 2001, he commanded the M-class frigate HNLMS Van Speijk (in STANAVFORLANT). After this command tour, he was assigned to the Admiralty in The Hague, working in the National Plans and Policy division. Upon his promotion to Captain (N) in June 2002, he was appointed Director of the Centre for Automation of Mission-critical Systems, Force Vision (formerly CAWCS). During the first half of 2004, he attended the Advanced Defence Management Studies in The Hague.
In February 2005, he was assigned to the Defence Staff and promoted to Commodore. In the Defence organisation´s new structure, he became Deputy Director for Operational Requirements and also chaired the Network-Enabled Capabilities board.
In June 2007, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and became Director of Operational Policy, Requirements and Plans. He was Deputy Chief of Staff Stability at ISAF Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, from November 2008 to November 2009. Falling directly under COMISAF, he was responsible for the lines of operation concerning governance and development of Afghanistan and the elections held in that country.
On 4 January 2010, he was promoted to Vice Admiral. On 22 January of the same year, Vice Admiral Borsboom was appointed Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
Vice Admiral Borsboom married in 1981, and lives with his wife Ernie Borsboom-Miga and daughter Carine (born 1984), son Max (born 1986) and daughter Lisanne (born 1989) in Den Helder.
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