Eric Schuurmans

Background

About Eric Schuurmans

Eric Schuurmans graduated form the Royal Netherlands Naval Academy in 1984 in International and Strategic Relations. After his junior appointments at sea he trained his war fighting skills at the Operational School in Den Helder after which he embarked on HNLMS De Ruyter and was deployed across the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. In 1990 he was assigned as the first Operations Officer to bring the first of class the M-class Frigate HNLMS Karel Doorman into operation. In 1993 he was assigned as head of the Above Water Warfare Department of the Operational School, responsible for all Weapon and Sensor lessons. From 1994 to 1997 he was assigned as Division Head on HNLMS Tromp and Head Of Operations of HNLMS Abraham van der Hulst, executing the duty as Anti-Air Warfare Commander for Standing Naval Force Atlantic during various operations. In 1998 he was assigned as Executive Officer on HNLMS Van Galen, the ship he also commanded shortly. In he joined the planning staff of ADMIRALNLFLEET and from 2003 to 2005 he joined Naval Staff in Den Haag in the planning and procurement department. Until 2009 he was Instructor Strategy and Operations at the Netherlands Defence Academy when he was assigned to HQ SHAPE (Supreme Allied Command Operations) J5 Strategic Policy. In 2013 he was assigned to HQ SACT (Supreme Allied Command Transformation) as subject matter expert on Missile Defense related issues. In 2018 he became Program Director. He retired in 2022. In 2023 het started his own company S.D.I. Consultancy. He is contracted as program developer by some companies and by ACT in Bergen/Mons at SACT Staff Element Europe.