CV Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy
René Tas was born in 1964 in Aardenburg, the Netherlands. He was admitted to the Royal Netherlands Naval College in 1982. After his commissioning in 1985, he served as watchkeeping officer on board HNLMS Callenburgh, HNLMS Isaac Sweers and HNLMS Witte de With.
Qualifying in 1990 as Warfare Officer and specializing in Anti Air Warfare, gunnery and missiles, he served as Air Defence Officer on HNLMS Witte de With. One of several deployments was the NATO operation Sharp Guard in the Adriatic Sea. After this assignment he served as Head of the Guided Weapon Analysis Department of the Naval Weapon Establishment.
In 1996 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and served as Air Defence Officer on HNLMS Tromp and as Operations Officer on HNLMS Witte de With. After an assignment as Staff Officer Anti Air Warfare in the Analysis and Tactical Centre he joined HNLMS Witte de With as Executive Officer with, amongst others, deployments to the Persian Gulf and the Far East. In 2001 he served as Head of the Action Speed Tactical Trainer in Den Helder. In 2002 he attended the General Staff Officers Course.
After his promotion to Commander he was appointed as Staff Officer Strategic Policy at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium. From May 2006 until early 2008 he was Commanding Officer of HNLMS Van Speijk, a multi-purpose frigate which participated in UNIFIL Maritime in 2007.
From early 2008 to June 2010 he worked in the Defence Staff’s Future Concept Branch in The Hague. He participated in the development of the Military Strategic Vision and the interdepartmental Future Policy Survey. In June 2010 he was promoted to Captain and assumed command of air defence and command frigate HNLMS Tromp. Deployments included consular evacuation operations of the coast of Libya, antipiracy operation Ocean Shield and a term as Dutch Caribbean Guard Ship.
In 2012 he joined the Defence Staff as branch head in the Operational Readiness Division. After a brief assignment in 2015 as Head of Strategy and Advice for the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy, he was promoted to Commodore and stationed in The Hague as a Director in the Policy Department of the Ministry of Defence.
From 2018 to June 2021 Rear Admiral Tas took up post as ACOS Capabilities at HQ Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia. Since 9 September 2021, he is in command of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Admiral BENELUX in the rank of Vice Admiral.
He is married to Petra. They have 3 children.