Biography of Director RAECON: Brigadier General Sam RAEVES

Sam RAEVES was born in Bruges, Belgium on 25 September 1971. He began his secondary education at the Sint-Lodewijks College in Bruges and completed it at the Royal School of Cadets in Lier, before starting his military career at the Belgian Ministry of Defence in 1987.

In 1995, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy with a Master in Engineering Sciences, specialising in Telecommunications, as part of the 145th Polytechnic Promotion. After his studies, he joined the Signal Troops and, in 1996, followed the Candidate Second Lieutenant Course at the Signal School in Vilvoorde.

He began his career commanding the Radio Platoon of TrISch-6TTr in Vilvoorde, and in June 1997 became an instructor at the Signal School, teaching Telecommunications, Data Networks and Tactical Themes to several sessions of Officers and NCOs.

From February 2002 until his Candidate Superior Officers Course in 2004, he commanded the Experimentation Group for Tactical Communication and Information Systems (Exp Gp Tac CIS), coordinating and supporting the development of major tactical CIS projects of the Belgian Armed Forces. During this period, he participated in several Combined Endeavour exercises organized by the USA (USEUCOM) in Germany, testing interoperability with over 40 nations.

After completing his Superior Officers Course in 2005, he became Material Manager for the security of CIS systems and for CIS support to intelligence gathering. He was the architect of the Secure Defence Network (SDN) for the processing, exchange, and storage of classified information, and earned his CISSP certification (Certified Information Systems Security Professional).

Following his promotion to Major in 2009, he attended the Advanced Staff Course at the Royal Higher Institute for Defence in Brussels. After obtaining a Master after Master in Political and Military Sciences in 2010, he joined the Army's G6 section, responsible for CIS planning and coordination of exercises and training for Land Component units.

In October 2011, he was deployed to Afghanistan for six months as Executive Officer of the Signals Training Advisory Team (Sigs TAT) at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC), mentoring the Chief of Staff of the Afghan Signal School.

On 20 June 2012, he became the 30th Commanding Officer of the 6 Gp CIS — the very unit where he had started his CIS career 16 years earlier as a platoon commander. In September 2014, he was appointed Head of the C4ISR Office within the Doctrine & Requirements Division of the Operations & Training Division (ACOS Ops&Trg).

In early 2016, he served for three months as Belgian Liaison Officer at the headquarters of the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.

With the creation of the Integrated Capability Management (ICM) Division in June 2017, he became Head of the INFORM Office, responsible for Space, Intelligence & Security, Cyber, CIS, and Strategic Communication.

In August 2019, he joined the NATO Headquarters Consultation, Command and Control Staff (NHQC3S) in Evere as a Staff Officer in the Plans, Policy & Architecture Branch. After his promotion to Colonel in 2020, he became Branch Head of the Plans, Interoperability and Operations Branch of the NHQC3S.

From July 2022 until March 2025, he served as Assistant Chief of Staff J6 Cyberspace (ACOS J6 Cyber) in the Cyberspace Directorate of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, where he was responsible for Strategic CIS and Cyber support for Alliance operations and missions.

Brigadier General Sam RAEVES is married to Anne DOCKX and lives in Vilvoorde, near Brussels. In his spare time, he enjoys sports, travelling, and fine dining.