A. (Ad) van de Kreeke

About Ad

According to Ad, intelligence plays a crucial role in the output of any organisation. This is why it is essential to have knowledge and experience from the client’s perspective. Only then can one truly understand the intelligence requirements and know how to organise and deliver them effectively.

Bridging theory and practice

Ad has over four decades of experience as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Army. The common thread throughout his career has been a mix of intelligence and operational roles, both in the Netherlands and abroad, at tactical, operational and strategic levels. As a result, he understands better than most what the end user’s intelligence needs are and how to meet them to maximum effect.

In addition to his extensive operational experience — including numerous overseas deployments, one of which earned him a decoration for bravery — Ad has considerable expertise in teaching intelligence-related subjects. For many years, he served as the head instructor and leader of the intelligence and intelligence analysis training programme where many services have trained their analysts.

Beyond the military, Ad has applied his expertise in civilian contexts, including work for the Dutch LIEC/RIEC and various security regions, where he adapted and implemented intelligence processes for immediate operational use.

Author of Beklemd in de enclave

In his recently published book Beklemd in de enclave , Ad offers a gripping account of his time as a UN observer in the besieged Bosnian enclave of Bihać, in the shadow of Srebrenica. With an eye for detail and without sparing himself, he paints a powerful portrait of life in an encircled pocket during the war in the former Yugoslavia. What began as a young man’s dream of camaraderie and heroism quickly turned into a harsh confrontation with inhumanity, political impotence, and the inner struggle to remain mentally resilient.

Ad’s ability to link complex intelligence issues to vivid real-world examples — often drawn from his own experiences as described in Beklemd in de enclave — makes him a trainer and speaker who holds his audience’s attention until the very last minute.