François Lecointre

François Lecointre (born on February 6, 1962) is a French army general serving as Chief of the Defence Staff of the French Army since 20 July 2017.

With lieutenant Bruno Heluin (Bruno Heluin), and as a Captain, he was one of the two section chiefs (chefs de section) heroes of the Bridge Battle (bataille du pont de Vrbanja) in 1995, the last « Fix Bayonet Charge » (« Baïonnette au Canon ») combat of the French Armed Forces (Forces Armées Françaises).

Biography
François Lecointre was born on February 6, 1962 in Cherbourg, France, into a Family of military traditions. His Father, Yves Urbain Marie Lecointre (April 5 1932 - 1985), was a French Naval Officer and Submariner, Commandant  Le Redoutable.

Military career
Lecointre attended the preparatory classes at the Prytanée National Militaire in La Flèche. He subsequently studied at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (Promotion Général Monclar) from 1984 to 1987, and then at the Infantry School from 1987 to 1988.

Lecointre joined the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (3e RIMa) where he served from 1988 to 1991.

Lieutenant Lecointre was appointed to the rank of Captain in the marine infantry on July 1st, 1991.

From 1993 to 1996, he was a combat company commander of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (3e RIMa) in Vannes. As a captain, Lecointre was involved in the Opération Turquoise in 1994 in Rwanda: he commanded the 1st company of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (3e RIMa), part of the Groupement Nord Turquoise. Captain François Lecointre was engaged with the French forces under the command of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under the orders of General Hervé Gobilliard (Hervé Gobilliard) and Colonel Erik Sandahl, Captain Lecointre together with Lieutenant Bruno Heluin (Bruno Heluin), part of the French peacekeeping forces, led a « Fix Bayonet Charge » (« baïonnette au canon »), which reversed the tides, in the Battle of Vrbanja Bridge on May 27, 1995, while diplomacy was seeking another exclusive diplomatic turning solution. According to Jean Guisnel (Jean Guisnel), this episode allowed to reverse the sense of war, and led in fine to the victory in the Balkans.

From 1996 to 1999, he was an instructor at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in Coëtquidan (Morbihan), where he trained student officers in military tactics. In 1999 - 2001, he was a trainee officer at the Inter-arm Defense College (Collège interarmées de Défense, today known as École de guerre) and then served in the office of the Chief of Staff of the French Army (Chef d'État-Major de l'Armée de Terre, CEMAT) in Paris at the crops bureau of system conception forces.

From 2005 to 2007, Colonel Lecointre was the commanding officer of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (3e RIMa) in Vannes.

From 2007 to 2008, he followed the courses of the Center of High Military Studies (Centre des hautes études militaires, CHEM), and was an auditor at the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale (IHEDN) in Paris.

He was promoted to Général de brigade on August 1st, 2011, and occupied until 2013 the commandment post of the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade in Poitiers. He later was appointed as commander of the European Union Training Mission in Mali from January to July 2013.

He rejoined the general staff headquarters of the French Army (état-major de l’Armée de terre) as a chargé de mission, becoming subsequently deputy-chief of the general staff headquarters of the armies « performance-synthèse » from 2014 to 2016. He was promoted to Général de division on January 1st, 2015.

Head of the Prime Minister's military cabinet (Chef du cabinet militaire du Premier minister) since August 2016, he was elevated by a decree of January 19, 2017 of President François Hollande in the first section of general officers to the rank and title of général de corps d'armée on March 1st, 2017. General Lecointre is also publishing director of the review of military studies, Inflexions.

On July 19, 2017, he was appointed Chief of the Joint Defence Staff by President Emmanuel Macron, following the resignation of Général d'armée Pierre de Villiers. He took office the day after his appointment and was promoted to the rank and title of Général d'armée.

Military ranks

 * 1984 : Aspirant
 * 1986 : Sous-lieutenant
 * 1987 : Lieutenant
 * 1991 : Captain
 * 1996 : Chef de bataillon
 * 2000 : Lieutenant-colonel
 * 2003 : Colonel
 * 01/08/2011 : Général de brigade
 * 01/01/2015 : Général de division
 * 01/03/2017 : Général de corps d'armée
 * 20/07/2017 : Général d'armée

Recognitions and Honors

 * French Initiation Parachute Badge
 * Commander of the Legion of Honor
 * Commander of the National Order of Merit
 * Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures (War Cross for foreign operational theatres) with gold star
 * Croix de la Valeur Militaire (Cross for Military Valour) with bronze palm and two bronze stars
 * Croix du Combattant
 * Médaille d'Outre-Mer with 4 bars
 * Médaille de la Défense nationale (échelon argent) with 2 bars
 * Médaille de reconnaissance de la Nation with bar
 * Médaille commémorative française with bar
 * United Nations Medal (for UNOSOM mission in Somalia)
 * UN Medal Bosnia (UNPROFOR) with bar
 * EUTM Operations Medal with "Mali" bar
 * EUTM Staff Medal
 * Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)
 * Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
 * Médaille de Reconnaissance des Forces Armées (Gabon)
 * National Order of Mali, Commander (Mali)
 * CEMA Badge