Lieutenant General André Steur was born on 17 April 1970 in
Apeldoorn, Netherlands. He started his military career in 1988 with
a study in Business Administration at the Royal Military Academy
(KMA) in Breda. After graduating from the KMA in 1992, he started
his pilot training (ENJJPT) at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.
In 1994 Steur received his wings and subsequently attended initial
F-16 training in Tucson, Arizona.

After returning to the Netherlands, he was stationed with
312 Squadron at Volkel Air Base. Between 1995 and 2003, Steur
was deployed several times, including to Bosnia, Kosovo and
Afghanistan.

In 2001, he started Fighter Weapons Instructor Training (FWIT).
Steur graduated cum laude and received awards for best student in
the categories overall, air-to-air and air-to-surface. Subsequently
he was assigned to 312 Squadron as a weapons o]icer/flight
commander.

After finishing the NLD Intermediate Command and Sta] Course in
2003, Steur was stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
As an Ops O]icer with 77th Fighter Squadron, a United States Air
Force Block-50 CJ squadron, he was responsible for the operational
readiness of the unit.

Upon his return to the Netherlands in 2006, he was assigned to the
Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) in The Hague, as Chief of
Operations of the F-35 programme. During this period, Steur was
the project lead of the 2008 candidate evaluation, Chief of the F-35
Operational Analysis Team and responsible for the preparations for
the F-35 OT&E.

From August 2009 until July 2010, Steur attended the NLD Advanced
Command and Sta] Course at the Netherlands Defence College
(IDL) in Rijswijk. Afterwards, he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant colonel and returned to Volkel Air Base as Commander
of 312 Squadron.

In 2011, Steur assumed command of 313 Squadron. Shortly after this
assignment he was deployed to Italy as the detachment commander
of 1-FWE, as part of NATO’s Operation Unified Protector in Libya.In September 2011,
Steur became the Operations Group
Commander at Volkel Air Base. During this period, he was also
project lead for the large-scale reorganisation of Volkel Air Base,
a measure that had been set out in the 2011 Policy Letter.
In 2012, he was assigned to the Defence Sta] and promoted to the
rank of colonel. As Chief of the Plans Integration and Coordination
Division, Steur was responsible for Defence planning in the fields
of investments, requirements, operating costs, personnel and
national and international cooperation.

In December 2014, Steur returned to Volkel Air Base, this time as
Commander of the Air Base. This period at Volkel was characterised
by the operations conducted over Iraq and Syria in the fight against
ISIS and the improvement of the positioning of the air base within
the local community.

In early 2016, Steur was promoted to air commodore to become
the Director of Operations of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. In
addition to bearing responsibility for the frequent deployment
of almost all of the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s weapon systems
at that time, Steur had an active role in the development of the
Royal Netherlands Air Force’s vision document regarding the fifth
generation air force.

In April 2019, Steur was promoted to major general and appointed
to the position of Director of Operational Policy and Plans within
the Directorate of Policy of the Netherlands Ministry of Defence
in The Hague. Within this newly established directorate, the
foundation was laid for further development of the Netherlands
armed forces. Furthermore, Steur and his team contributed
significantly to the run-up to the 2022 Defence White Paper, the
accompanying statement of measures and the resulting e]orts in
the area of materiel.

On 14 April 2023, Steur was promoted to Lieutenant General and
assumed the position of Commander of the Royal Netherlands Air
Force.

In the summer of 2024, Steur successfully completed his F-35
conversion (Senior Course).