Jean-Pierre Bosser (born 14 November 1959 in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) is a French

Army General Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...

. He was

Chief of Staff of the French Army The Chief of the Army Staff (french: Chef d'état-major de l'armée de terre, CEMAT) is the military head of the French Army. The chief directs the army staff and acts as the principal advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff on subjects concern ...

from 1 September 2014 to 31 July 2019.

Military career

Student of the

Lycée militaire de Saint-Cyr The lycée militaire de Saint-Cyr (or Coldo) is one of six (formerly 'lycées militaires') of the French Ministry of Defence. Situated at Saint-Cyr-l'École (Yvelines), it occupies a particularly historic building - it succeeds the Maison royale ...

, then the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

(promotion Général Lasalle 1979-1981), he chose then the infantry application school at Montpellier.Biographie du général d’armée Jean-Pierre Bosser
''Ministère de la Défense'', 10 September 2014. He served in the

8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment The 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 8e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, (8e RPIMa) is an airborne regiment of the French Army. The 8e RPIMa was created on 28 February 1951 and the men wear the red beret. It is par ...

8^e RPIMa at Castres on three different occasions, as a section (platoon) chief and paratrooper instructor from 1982 to 1985, assistant officer then commandant of a company between 1986 and 1990, and finally after being nominated to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

on 1 October 2000, in quality as a

regimental A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

commander from 2003 to 2011. Jean-Pierre Bosser was particularly renowned for becoming a paratrooper instructor, particularly at the 8th Parachute Regiment of the

Troupes de marine The (TDM, ) is a corps of the French Army that includes several specialities: infantry, artillery, armoured, airborne, engineering, and transmissions (Signals). Despite its name, it forms part of the Army, not the Navy. Intended for amphibio ...

, and participated to a dozen of exterior operations. Between 1982 and 1990, he deployed to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

at the corps of the

Multinational Force in Lebanon The Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in August 1982 following a 1981 U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel to end their involvement in the confl ...

since creation in September 1982, to

Tchad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic t ...

for the launching of

Operation Manta Operation Manta was a French military intervention in Chad between 1983 and 1984, during the Chadian–Libyan conflict. The operation was prompted by the invasion of Chad by a joint force of Libyan units and Chadian Transitional Government of Nat ...

in 1983 then within the cadre of Opération Épervier in 1989, to

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

in 1984 and 1986, and to

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

in 1990 for the evacuation of French citizens from

Port-Gentil Port-Gentil () or Mandji is the second-largest city of Gabon, and it is a leading seaport. It is the center of Gabon's petroleum and timber industries. The city is located on a delta island in the Ogooue delta with no bridges to the mainland. Nea ...

. He also conducted simultaneously a technical military assistance mission for one year as a counselor of the para-commando battalion of

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

in 1985. From 1990 to 1992, he occupied the post of chief of the operational center of the inter-arm general staff headquarters of the superior commandment of the New Caledonian Armed Forces (FANC). He was then engaged at the head of his regiment in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

within the cadre of Operation Trident in 2002, then

to open Operation Boali in 2003. Brevetted at the École de guerre in 1996, he served for five years at the bureau « études générales » of the Directorate of Military Personnel of the French Army (DPMAT) before assuming the command of the 8^e RPIMa. Then, from 2003 till 2005, he was designated as director of the student formations (DFE) of Écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan ESCC. He joined again the DPMAT in quality as a bureau chief « Arme de mêlée », then bureau chief « études générales ». Nominated to

Général de brigade Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

on 1 August 2007, he became the assistant to the deputy chief of the general staff headquarters « ressources humaines » at the general staff headquarters of the French Army where he was confined with the functions of deputy chief of the general staff headquarters « performance-synthèse ». Elevated to the rank designation of général de corps d’armée, he became on 29 November 2012, the director of the Protection and Defense Security Directorate

DPSD DRSD is the abbreviation of ''Direction du Renseignement et de la Sécurité de la Défense'', a French security agency which is part of the Ministry of Armed Forces (France), Ministry of Armed Forces. It was established on 10 October 2016 out of ...

, while being responsible for one of the French Military Intelligence Subsidiaries. On 9 July 2014, he was nominated by the Council of Ministers

CEMAT, the highest function in the chain of command of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

. He assumed this post responsibility on 1 September 2014 along with the rank elevation designation of

Général d'armée Army general (french: Général d'armée) is the highest active military rank of the French Army and the National Gendarmerie. It is also used in the Air and Space Force, where it is called . Officially, it is not a rank but a position and styl ...

Military ranks

Honours and decorations

Jean-Pierre Bosser is an Honorary Corporal (bestowed) of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosser, Jean-Pierre 1959 births Living people French generals École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Legion of Merit

Military career

Military ranks

Honours and decorations

See also

Notes and references