Ministerie van Defensie, Directie-Generaal Human Resources / Ministère de la Défense. Directorat-général ressources humaines

The Directorate-General for Human Resources (DG HR) is the heart of Defence. In the interest of more than 25,000 employees whose careers are regularly changed, DG HR also reaches out to various other organisations. Both for training and professional reorientation, Defence looks to other labour organisations in Belgium. This facilitates the recruitment, orientation and training of our personnel. The partnerships of the DG HR are essential for the recruitment, retraining and development of Defence personnel. The key role that VDAB, FOREM and Actiris play in the Belgian labour market makes them the ideal complement to the services provided by Defence itself.

The Ministry of War originated with the independence of Belgium as one of the five ministerial departments. Until 1912 officers often exercised the job of Secretary of War, afterwards this was hardly the case. Besides the minister also the King (as commander of the army) plays a role in military decision-making, and up to the Second World War the rulers effectively exerted influence on the policy of the army. In 1920 the department was given its current name, the Ministry of Defence. The institutional history of the ministry is characterised by many large and small reorganisations, especially after the First World War (including in the 1920s and in 1950, 1963, 1974, 2000-2002). One of the reasons was the interweaving of different tasks and responsibilities and the appointment of civilians as well as soldiers, because of the ambiguity between administrative and purely military functions of the Department. With the Copernicus Reform (2000-2002) the ministry was not (yet) transformed into an FPS, though the structure is thoroughly adapted to eliminate the overlaps and intermediate levels of command, and to reduce staff. Today, making the four forces (Army, Air Force, Navy and Medical Service) with their resp. services is part of a unitary structure. Various general management and staff departments are responsible for such things as budget, personnel, legal support and mediation, but also intelligence and security, strategy, operations and training, ...