Peter Blokland

Peter BLOKLAND, born in Antwerp on August 8th, 1957, becomes an officer and a pilot when he finishes his studies at the Royal Military Academy in December 1983 (Master in Military and Aeronautical sciences 119 TAW Promotion)

As a young pilot he flies F-16’s at Kleine Brogel AB, which he leaves three years later, to become an instructor pilot at the Elementary Flying School. It is his first assignment as an educator.

After his studies at the Defence College, he becomes a Staff Officer at Air Force Training Command, with a focus on basic flying training. This Staff tour is followed by a “flying” assignment as an Operations and Training officer at the Advanced Flying Training Wing at St Truiden AB.

A consecutive Staff assignment introduces him in the world of accident prevention and flight safety, a job highly focussed on excellence.

In 1996, Squadron Leader Peter Blokland has the privilege to be assigned Squadron Commander (“CO”) of the 5th Sqn (Basic Flying Training), at a crucial moment in the 5th Sqn's history, as the squadron has to transit from the Elementary Flying School at Goetsenhoven to the 1th Wing at Beauvechain. It’s one of the many results of an ongoing reorganization of the Belgian Armed Forces.

After his tour as a CO, he returns to his colleagues at Flight Safety and adds accident investigation to his experience and competence. It becomes clear that Peter is fascinated by the continuing effort to improve and he enjoys the various courses he attends to expand his knowledge on the subject.

Responsible for training aircraft and Flight Safety education, he also takes pleasure in sharing and passing on his experience. Accident investigation and prevention is a systematic, but also a systemic approach. Always taking the whole picture in view, looking for underlying causes, instead of only tackling the obvious symptoms!

He finishes his military career at “SHAPE” the operational NATO HQ at Mons (BE). As a staff officer in nuclear operations, he is involved in surety issues, operational training and communications.

Peter is convinced that his strengths are education and performance improvement. These are fascinating areas in which he aims to excel as a trainer, coach, mentor or consultant.

Peter Blokland is happily married to Marianne Beukenhorst since 1980. They live in Hove, a residential community south of Antwerp (Belgium). They have three children.