Colonel Jorrit de Gruijter

Commander, Air Mobility Command Royal Netherlands Air Force

Jorrit de Gruijter (Wageningen, 1976) started his military career in 1995 as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy. After receiving his commission in 1998, he started the elementary pilot training. His operational career started in 2001, when he was posted as an Apache pilot at the 301 Squadron at Gilze-Rijen Air Base. Until mid-2009 he had various operational positions. From Backseater to Flightlead as a pilot, from liaison officer at the 11th Airmobile Brigade to flight commander. During this period he was deployed to Afghanistan five times. Jorrit de Gruijter was positioned at the Staff of the Air Force Command at the end of 2009 as staff officer Combat and utility helicopters. During this period he was also responsible for creating a uniform training program for all helicopter types. He was also a member of the participation committee. In June 2011, De Gruijter was posted as Ops Officer at 301 Squadron. He was responsible for the training program of the Apache pilots and the integration of training with units of the Airmobile Brigade, the Commando Corps and the Marines. After obtaining his Executive Master of Security and Defence in 2015, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and became the Commander of the 301 Squadron at Gilze-Rijen Air Base. Shortly after his deployment to Mali in 2016, as commander of the Helicopter Detachment (MINUSMA), the Air Force needed a change of leadership at Eindhoven Air Base. Because of his profound knowledge and experience in leadership, tactical operations and cooperation with ground units he obtained the position of Commander of the 336 Squadron at Eindhoven Air Base in 2017. As Commander of the “Blackbulls” he was responsible for all C-130 Hercules operations. To be effective he was