Pierre François Marie Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born 26 July 1956) ''dit'' Pierre de Villiers is an Army General 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 ...

and a former Chief of the Defence Staff. Following a disagreement with President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

, who is ''ex-officio'' Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, he tendered his resignation on 19 July 2017.

Biography

House Le Jolie de Villiers

Pierre Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon is a member of the House of Le Jolis de Villiers (french: Famille Le Jolis de Villiers) established in the

16th century The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th cent ...

. His brother is the French politician Philippe de Villiers.

Early military career

20th century

After two years of preparatory corniche (french:

corniche A corniche is a road on the side of a cliff or mountain, with the ground rising on one side and falling away on the other. The word has been absorbed into English from the French term ' or "road on a ledge", originally derived from the Itali ...

) at

Prytanée National Militaire The Prytanée national militaire is a French military school managed by the French military, offering regular secondary education as well as special preparatory classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish ...

, Pierre Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon was admitted to 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 ...

in 1975, promotion « Captain Henri Guilleminot » (french: Henri Guilleminot). He entered at the end of his scholarity the Armoured Cavalry Arm and joined the Cavalry School of Saumur within his specialty, promotion « lieutenant Charles de Foucauld ». He was a section platoon chief of AMX30 tanks at the 2nd Dragoon Regiment in 1978. He entered between 1979 and 1987 to the 4th Dragoon Regiment, which also housed a platoon of AMX30 tanks. He commanded a divisionary reconnaissance squadron of the 7th Armoured Division. He was then on three different occasions an instructor of sous-officiers and lieutenants at Saumur. From 1989 to 1990, he was a candidate at the Superior War School of the 103rd promotion of the ESG, then from 1990–1991, he was a candidate at the Superior Inter-arm Course (XLII session of the CSI). He was then designated as the regimental commander of the 501st-503rd Combat Tank Regiment. In June 1999, he commanded during five months the mechanized infantry battalion of the Leclerc brigade, which entered first 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 ...

with operation

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defunct ...

. During twelve years, he was in post in Paris at the general staff headquarters of the

, then at the inspection of the French Army and member of the financial affairs direction of the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

21st century

From September to June 2004, he was an auditor at the Center of High Military Studies and at the Institute of High National Defense Studies. Deputy to the Chief of the Prime Minister's military cabinet on 1 July 2004, he was promoted to Général de brigade on 1 September 2005. He was designated commandant of the 2nd Armoured Brigade and arms commandant of the court of Orléans (french: commandant d'armes de la place d'Orléans) on 1 August 2006, a function which he occupied until 31 August 2008. In parallel, from December 2006 to April 2007, he commanded the Regional Capital Command RCC in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

which regrouped 2500 military personnel from 15 nationalities. He was nominated as at the

Head of the Prime Minister's military cabinet The head of the Prime Minister's military cabinet (''Chef du cabinet militaire du Premier ministre'') is a role in the military and government of France, heading the prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head ...

on 15 September 2008, a function which occupied until March 2010, date in which he was replaced by Bernard de Courrèges d'Ustou (french: Bernard de Courrèges d'Ustou). By decree on 11 March 2010, he was nominated to the functions of Major General of the Armed Forces at the general staff headquarters of the armed forces.

Chief of the Defence Staff

Général de Villiers was appointed on 15 February 2014 Chief of the Defence Staff succeeding

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Édouard Guillaud Amiral Édouard Guillaud (born 10 July 1953)

. Charged with attacks against the Islamic State after the

November 2015 Paris attacks The November 2015 Paris attacks () were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 9:15p.m., three suicide bombers ...

, he judged that the necessary military attacks against this entity can only but guarantee peace and security, by recalling the comfort means of the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. Franc ...

. He coordinated the exterior operations of Operation Barkhane in

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

Operation Sangaris Operation Sangaris was a military intervention of the French military in the Central African Republic, from late 2013 till 2016. It was the seventh French military intervention there since the independence of the country in 1960. On 30 October 20 ...

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 ...

and

Opération Chammal Opération Chammal is a French military operation in Iraq and Syria launched to help curtail the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to support the Iraqi Army. Its name comes from the Shamal (''Chammal'' in French), a no ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. He was also equally in charge of the interior natured anti-terrorist operation,

Opération Sentinelle Opération Sentinelle is a French military operation with 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police and gendarmes deployed since the aftermath of the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks, with the objective of protecting the deemed sensitive "points" of th ...

18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen

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 ...

, on 30 April 2015, commemorated their 152nd anniversary of Camaron in presence of Villiers. Commemorating also the 70th Liberation Anniversary, Général de Villiers declared that " Commemorating Camerone is commemorating the courage, the cult of the mission, the respect of senior veterans, giving the youth a formidable message of hope for the future", while also adding that "« honor and fidelity are always values which gather »". During the ceremony,

Adjudant-Chef Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

François Monarcha, born in Poland 98 years and «4 months ago»- the senior veteran was insisting on this precision-, was part of the main parade as he was accompanied by a former Harki and a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

of British origin. Addressing the legionnaires, Général de Villiers declared "« Your regimental colors and flags do not have enough folds and space in them to house and contain all your titles of glory » ".

Position on defence budget

In December 2016, Villiers called for an increase in armed forces' budget from 1.7% to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) before 2022. This would allow France to meet the NATO defense spending requirements currently met by only the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In March 2017, Villiers once again expressed support for increasing the defence budget to 2% of GDP by 2022 - an increase of about three billion euros per year. Emmanuel Macron announced a promise to increase the defence budget to 2% by 2025 and Marine Le Pen announced in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

that she wishes to see the defence budget increased to 3% of GDP in order to build a new aircraft carrier, hire 50,000 new military personnel and progressively reintroduce compulsory military service, starting with a 3-month commitment.

Criticism of Macron and resignation

On 11 July 2017, Minister of Public Action and Accounts Gérald Darmanin announced that part of the government's plan to reduce spending, the military were going to be cut by 850 million euros in 2017. The following day, ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' reported that Villiers met with the Defense Committee in the National Assembly and told them "I will not get fucked over like this". The conversation was caught on tape and leaked by ''Le Monde''. Also, accordingly to ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

'', Villiers unleashed his fury, and added monumentally "I can no longer look my guys in the eyes if we reduce our means further".

, during a speech to the armed forces on 13 July 2017 in which he famously said "I am the boss", affirmed his plan to raise the defence budget to 2% of GDP by 2025. During the speech, Macron publicly called out de Villiers numerous times, addressing the recent leak reported by ''Le Monde''. During Bastille Day military parade, Général de Villiers and President Macron, as customary for the

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

and Commander-in-Chief of the

, rode together standing side by side in the same vehicle during the ceremonial parade. Following the Bastille Day parade, Villiers posted on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

a criticism of the Macron government's plans to reduce defence spending. '' Le Journal du Dimanche'' reported on 16 July 2017 that Macron was possibly looking to replace de Villiers stating "The Republic doesn't work like this" Macron then went on to say that he has confidence in de Villiers. Général de Villiers stepped down on 19 July 2017 due to budget cuts and disagreements with President

. This was the first time in the 5th Republic that a Chief of the Defence Staff has forcibly resigned. A press release was issued on francetvinfo's website. On the same day, Macron confirmed Army general

François Lecointre François Gérard Marie Lecointre (; born 6 February 1962) is a French army general who served as Chief of the Defence Staff between 2017 and 2021. As a captain, with Lieutenant Bruno Heluin (platoon leader) as the company commanding officer, he ...

as Villiers' replacement. Macron described Villiers' behaviour surrounding his resignation as "undignified". While de Villiers was leaving the Ministry of Armed Forces, a crowd of soldiers and military personnel applauded him.

In retirement

Following his resignation, speculation arose that he might enter politics: Polling in 2020 found that 20% of French voters might've supported him in the 2022 presidential election.

Military ranks

Honours and decorations

Pierre de Villiers is an Honorary Caporal (bestowed) of the Troupes de marine (2014).

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villiers, Pierre de French generals French military staff 1956 births Living people Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Commanders of the Legion of Merit Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Valour Recipients of the Order pro Merito Melitensi Chief of the Defence Staff (France) Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Senegal