Jump to content

Thierry Burkhard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thierry Burkhard
General Burkhard in 2024
Chief of the Defence Staff
Assumed office
22 July 2021
Preceded byFrançois Lecointre
Chief of Staff of the French Army
In office
31 July 2019 – 21 July 2021
Preceded byJean-Pierre Bosser
Succeeded byPierre Schill
Personal details
Born (1964-07-30) 30 July 1964 (age 60)
Delle, France
Military service
AllegianceFrance
Branch/serviceFrench Army
Years of service1989–present
RankArmy General
CommandsChief of the Defence Staff
Chief of Staff of the French Army
Inspector of the French Army
Centre for Planning and Execution of Operations
13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion
Battles/warsUNPROFOR (Bosnian War)
ISAF

Thierry Burkhard (born 30 July 1964) is a French Army general who has served as Chief of the Defence Staff since 22 July 2021.[1] Prior to his appointment to the top post, Burkhard previously served as Chief of Staff of the French Army from 2019 to 2021 and as Inspector of the French Army from 2018 to 2019.

As an officer, Burkhard was deployed overseas in a variety of missions. He served in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) and held command of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) in Djibouti.

Early Life and Education

[edit]

A native of Delle, Territoire de Belfort, Burkhard enrolled at Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1985 and completed infantry courses at the École de l'infanterie from 1988 to 1989. Burkhard also completed the Advanced Staff Course at École supérieure de guerre in 2000.[2][3]

Military career

[edit]

After a year of post-academy training, Burkhard graduated as infantry and was posted for continual service in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment in Corsica. He served the regiment from 1989 to 1996, and was later deployed to Bosnia on 1992 to 1993 as part of the United Nations Protection Force during the Bosnian War.[4][2][5] In 1996, Burkhard would later serve as a member of the Joint Staff at the Centre for Planning and Execution of Operations (CPCO) in Paris. Burkhard later served in the operations command in overseas missions such as in Iraq, where he served as operations officer in the 4th Foreign Regiment. Burkhard also served in missions in Gabon and Chad, the Yugoslavia Crisis, and during the civil war in Côte d’Ivoire. He also served in Afghanistan on two occasions, while he was still the deputy Communications Director of the Joint Staff. He was later promoted to the command of the 13e DBLE in Djibouti in 2010.[4][3]

Burkhard later served as the head of the operations division at the Armed Forces based in French Guiana from 2002 to 2004, and later served under Joint Staff as deputy to the J3 EUROPE/CPCO. Burkhard would later be involved on Opération Licorne in 2006 before serving as a deputy under Admiral Christophe Prazuck in 2007. Burkhard later served as a deputy communications advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff from 2007 to 2008, and was later deployed to Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Burkhard would later serve as the commander of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion from 2008 to 27 July 2010 joined the Information and Public Relations Service of the Armed Forces in 2010, before being named as the communications advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff from August 2010 to 2013. In 2013, he became the Joint Staff Communications Directorate Director, through which he was made the J3 of the French Joint Staff under National Intelligence as coordinator and adviser of military intelligence to the President. Burkhard later served as a member of the Special Staff of the President from August 2014 to August 2015, and in 2015 and the Inspector General of the Army.[2] He was named as deputy commander of the Centre for Planning and Execution of Operations from August 2015 to August 2017, as he later served as commander of the same unit.

Burkhard would later became the Chief of the French Army in July 2019, before being named as on 21 July 2021.[6][1][3] His appointment came after the announcement of the resignation of General François Lecointre on 13 July 2021 as a move to avoid being dragged in political debates before the 2022 French presidential election and on the initiation of drawing down military operations on Mali.[7]

Dates of promotion

[edit]
Cadet Aspirant Sub-lieutenant Lieutenant Captain Commandant
1985 1986 1987 1988 1992 1997
Lieutenant colonel Colonel Brigade general Division general Corps general Army general
2001 2005 2014 2017 2018 2019

Honours and decorations

[edit]

National honours

[edit]

Foreign honours

[edit]

Badges

[edit]
  • French Parachutist Badge
  • Chief of the Defence Staff Badge

Personal Life

[edit]

Burkhard came from a family of protestants. He is married and has three children.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Arab News 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "General Thierry Burkhard bio". www.defense.gouv.fr. Retrieved 19 September 2021.[dead link]
  3. ^ a b c NATO 2021.
  4. ^ a b Anita 2021.
  5. ^ "2e REP: Sarajevo in Yugoslavia 1993 | French Foreign Legion Information".
  6. ^ AUSA 2020.
  7. ^ Paris, Adam Sage (13 June 2021). "General François Lecointre quits as head of France's armed forces". www.thetimes.com.
  8. ^ "President Karis bestows Estonia's military medal on Gen. Thierry Burkhard". 24 February 2024.
  9. ^ "DECRET nr. 1.692 din 21 decembrie 2022". 22 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Le chef d'état major général des armées françaises reçu par Macky Sall". 19 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Sztab Generalny WP: szef obrony Sił Zbrojnych Francji odznaczony Złotym Medalem Wojska Polskiego". 29 March 2024.
  12. ^ https://x.com/CEMA_FR/status/1798246161423253896. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ "Thierry Burkhard – AO" (PDF). Governor General of Australia. Governor General of Australia. Retrieved 8 May 2024.

Citations

[edit]
Military offices
Preceded by
Army General Jean-Pierre Bosser
Chief of Staff of the French Army
2019–2021
Succeeded by
Army General Pierre Schill
Preceded by
Army General François Lecointre
Chief of the Defence Staff
2021–present
Incumbent