Fighter pilot Frederik Vansina must make Defense great

Air Force General Frederik Vansina (59) is the new chief of the Belgian army. In the coming years he will have to look for thousands of new soldiers to grow Defense.

The appointment of Frederik – or simply Fred – Vansina as the new chief of staff of the army was hardly a surprise. When Admiral Michel Hofman indicated that he did not aspire to a second mandate as head of the Belgian army, his right-hand man Vansina was quickly looked to succeed him. “As Deputy Chief of Defense he knows our organization inside and out and as a fighter pilot he has extensive experience in the operational world,” Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder (PS) said after the decision was announced.

The cards were good for Vansina. It is customary in the army for successive chiefs of staff to alternate between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking. After Hofman, an Ostend resident on the French language roll, it was the turn of a Dutch speaker. The position of Chief of Defense (CHOD) is also best obtained alternately from the air force, army and navy. After Marc Compernol (army) and Hofman (navy), it was the air force’s turn. All this played into the hands of Vansina, who speaks Dutch and is an excellent bilingual air force general.

Vansina was born in Switzerland as the son of a diplomat and therefore spent part of his childhood in the US and Congo. After his pilot training, he ended up at Bevekom air base in the 1980s. He later became commander of the Tactical Wing at Kleine-Brogel air base, which took part in air operations over Afghanistan and Libya. He also headed the strategic department of Defense.

Last summer, the three-star general became vice chief of staff, the number two in the army. He made himself known internationally as chairman of the European Airgroup, an organization for cooperation between the air forces of seven European countries.

Vansina will take over Hofman’s duties from June, who will then retire. Dedonder sees it as his most important task to continue the ‘reconstruction and transformation’ of Defense and to further grow the organization. ‘Only in this way can we improve and increase the deployability and preparedness of our Defense in the interest of the safety of all of us.’

In concrete terms, this concerns, among other things, the ambitious recruitment plans. The government objective is to expand the Belgian army to 29,100 soldiers by 2030, 5,000 more than today. The challenge is not only recruiting new talent, but also preventing recruits from dropping out and leaving the military. Recent revelations about misconduct at the fourth Engineer battalion in Amay put Defense in a bad light, just at a time when new recruits are desperately needed to absorb the wave of retirements at Defense.

Vansina must also manage the implementation of new weapon systems and the arrival of the F-35. The advanced fighter aircraft, of which the Belgian government purchased 34, will eventually replace the fleet of Belgian F-16s. The first aircraft are expected at Florennes air base in mid-2025, followed by Kleine-Brogel two years later.