Herman HENDRICKX
Colonel GS MSc Eng
Director of the Department High Studies of Defence
Biography
Herman Hendrickx was born on 13 October 1967 in Bruges and started his military career in August 1983 at the Royal Cadet School in Laken.
He then studied at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, where he obtained his degree in civil engineering (specialisation: Telecommunications) in 1993 with the 142nd Polytechnic Promotion.
After a year of specialisation at the then Transmission School in Peutie, he was transferred as a lieutenant to the 20th Transmission Company in Verviers.
After various positions at platoon and company level, he left for the Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (the Netherlands), where he commanded an international transmission company.
In 1995, he took part in his first foreign assignment as an observer for the European Community in Bosnia (European Community Monitor Mission). From 1996 to 2000, five more foreign assignments followed in Bosnia (Sarajevo, Mostar and Tuzla), in Kosovo (Pristina) and in Macedonia (Skopje).
After completing his Candidate Senior Officer Course, he was assigned to the Belgian Defence’s Material Resources department in Evere, where his responsibilities included the purchase of new radio-relay stations for the Belgian Defence.
From January 2007 to July 2008, Major Hendrickx attended the Higher Staff Course in Amersfoort and The Hague (the Netherlands), where he obtained a master’s degree in security and defence after one and a half year of study.
In September 2008, he was appointed Corps Commander of the 10th Communications and Information Systems Group (CIS) in Leopoldsburg.
After being appointed lieutenant colonel in September 2011, he was transferred to the Doctrine & Requirements department of the Defence Staff in Evere, where he wrote the doctrine on the operational deployment of the army’s communication systems.
As from July 2014, he taught this doctrine as a teacher of tactical communication systems at the Royal Higher Institute for Defence (RHID) in Brussels.
From May 2016 to July 2019, he was Commander of the army’s CIS units and adviser to the Land Component Commander on all CIS-related matters. In this position, he was promoted to the rank of colonel in 2017. During that period, he was also attending the RHID’s High Studies for Security and Defence (4th cycle).
From July 2019 to February 2020, Colonel Hendrickx was part of the Coalition Strategy & Plans Group at CENTCOM in Tampa (USA). In this position, he was responsible for analysing refugee issues in Syria and Iraq.
From March 2020 to September 2023, he was the provincial military commander of East Flanders.
Since September 2023, he has been working at the Royal Higher Institute for Defence in Brussels, where he is director of the department High Studies of Defence.