Benoît Puga (born 30 January 1953) is a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

and the Grand Chancellor of the National Order of the Legion of Honour and the National Order of Merit.

Military career

Puga joined the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (, , abbr. ESM) 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 ''Ils s'instruisent pour vaincre'', litera ...

in September 1973, at the age of 20, following which he joined the Infantry Application School in 1975 with a rank of sous-lieutenant. In September 1976, Puga joined the 1st Chasseur Group at Reims as an infantry section chief () before becoming a platoon missile section chief. From August to October, he conducted a tour at the corps of a reconnaissance helicopter unit of the 2^e ACR belonging to the VIIth U.S. Army Corps stationed at

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

in Germany. He was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 1 August 1976. On 1 April 1978, Puga was assigned to the

2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment () is the only airborne regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is one of the four infantry regiments of the 11th Parachute Brigade and part of the spearhead of the French rapid reaction force. Si ...

2^e REP, where he was, in succession, section chief, assistant officer, and commander of a company in a unit combat capacity. Accordingly, he was promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He participated in several operations and exterior deployment: at Kolwezy in

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

in 1978, at

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

in 1979, at

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

in 1980 and 1981, at

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 1982, at

Bangui Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

in 1983 and Tchad in 1984. In August 1984, Puga joined the general staff headquarters of the

. He was appointed as quarter officer at the operational center, a post which he left in August 1986 to become ''chargé'' for a year. He was promoted to the rank of chef de bataillon in 1985. A candidate at the Superior War School and the Superior Inter-Arm Course (CSI) from September 1987 to June 1989, Puga received the command of an officer promotion class at Saint-Cyr from 1989 to 1992 where, a lieutenant colonel, he successively commanded the 3rd, 2nd and 1st battalions. In August 1992, Puga rejoined the general staff headquarters at Paris at the corps of the study bureau and participated in the reorganization of the operational command of the armed forces. From February 1994 to June 1996, he was detached, first as a military assistant to the commandant of FORPRONU in ex-Yugoslavia from March 1994 to April 1995, then as military counselor of the co-president of the international conference for ex-Yugoslavia and European negotiator for the peace accords of Dayton, from May to December 1995, a personality which was the High representative of the international community in Bosnia. He was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

in 1994. On 9 August 1996, Puga received the

regimental colors In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours, standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt some 5,000 year ...

of the

2^e REP and participated at the head of that regiment to operations in « Malabo » at

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

in 1996, « Almandin II & III » at Bangui in RCA in 1996 and 1997, then Pelican I, II, III at Brazzaville in the Congo in 1997. He assumed particularly the command of operation Pelican III. From September 1998 to August 1999, Puga was designated as cadre professor of the Inter-Arm Defense College (CID). During this period, he was detached from May to August 1999 near the special envoy for the Balkans of the Secretary General of the United Nations, as military counselor, and participated at this foreign title to the negotiations on the deployment of UNMIK in Kosovo and the stability pact in the Balkans. From September 1999 to July 2000, Puga was an auditor for the 52nd session of IHEDN and the 49th session of the

CHEM Chem may refer to: *Chemistry *Chemical * ''Chem'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press *Post apocalyptic slang for "drugs", medicinal or otherwise in the Fallout video game series. In Ancient Egyptian usage: * ''Khem'' (also ...

, then he occupied successively the functions of assistant « Terre » then inter-arms assistant to the chief Admiral at the Inter-Arms Operational Center (COIA) of the État-Major des Armées. On 1 September 2004, Puga was designated as the head commandant of the Special Operation Command ( COS). On 1 July 2007, Puga assumed the functions of deputy chief () of operations at the general staff headquarters of the Armies and was elevated to the rank designation of

général de corps d'armée An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a general officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the General officer#French Revolutionary system, French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. Nor ...

. Director of the Direction du renseignement militaire in September 2008, he was designated as

Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic The Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic (''Chef d'état-major particulier du président de la République'') is a role in the military of France, military and Cabinet of France, government of France, heading the president of ...

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

by replacing in the post Admiral Édouard Guillaud, who was nominated to Chief of the Defence Staff. During this time, Puga was maintained twice in his post by President Francois Hollande. On 16 January 2014, Puga, Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic was maintained in the 1st section of officer generals of the French Army until 30 August 2015. On 23 August 2016, Puga was designated by decree nomination as Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor () GC-L.H succeeding Général Jean-Louis Georgelin. General Benoît Puga is targeted in 2024 by an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office for "corruption", "influence peddling" and "illegal taking of interests": he is suspected of having compromised with Senator Jean-Pierre Bansard.

Honours and decorations

*French Parachutist Badge *

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Gran ...

of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur (2006) * Officier of the Légion d'Honneur (1998) * Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur (1991) * Grand Croix de l'ordre national du Mérite * Croix de la Valeur militaire (8 citations, 2 étoiles en vermeil et 6 en bronze) *

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

, Commander *

Order of Agricultural Merit The Order of Agricultural Merit () is an order of merit bestowed by the France, French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the Legion of Honour within the Frenc ...

, Commander * Croix du combattant * Overseas Medal (5 ''agrafes'' – clasps) * Médaille de la Défense nationale (National Defence Medal in bronze) * Médaille de reconnaissance de la Nation * Médaille commémorative française * United Nations Medal for

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

with numeral 2 * Order of Prince Danilo I, Knight Commander (Montenegro) *

NATO Medal The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium. Ba ...

for the former Yugoslavia * Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Cross of Merit with Gold Star (Holy See) *

Order pro Merito Melitensi The Order of Merit (; ) is the order of merit of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, established in 1920. It is awarded to recipients who have brought honour to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, promoted Christian values and for chari ...

, Military Grand Cross with swords (Malta) *

Order of the Nile The Order of the Nile (''Kiladat El Nil'') was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt's principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt's highest state honor. Sulta ...

, Grand Officer (Egypt) *Order of the Military, 2nd class (Morocco) *Ordre de la reconnaissance centrafricaine, commandeur *Commander of the National Order of Merit (Mauritania) *National Order of Niger, Commander * National Order of Mali, Commander *

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

, Commander *Defense Intelligence Agency Director's Award * Order of Merit of Germany, Grand Cross * Order of the Lion, Commander (Senegal) * Ordre National, Commandeur (Côte d'Ivoire) * Order of Merit of Poland, Grand Cross * Order of the White Lion, 3rd class (Czechoslovakia) * Order of the Republic, Commander (Tunisia) *

Order of the Southern Cross The National Order of the Southern Cross () is a Brazilian Orders, decorations, and medals of Brazil, order of chivalry founded by List of monarchs of Brazil, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro I on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate ...

, Grand Officer (Brazil) * Order of Ouissam Alaouite, Grand Officer (Morocco) *USSOCOM Medal *Croix de la bravoure militaire de Zaire (Cross of Military Bravery of Zaire) with gold palm *Inter-African Medal for the Protection of the Bangui Agreements *Order of Patriotic Merit, Officer (Burundi) *

Order of the Aztec Eagle The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle () forms part of the Mexican Honors System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners. History It was created by decree on December 29, 1933, by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to ...

, Plaque (Mexico) *

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(Military version), Honorary Commander *Puga received every single degree of the Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit.

References

External links

*
Biography at the Ministry of Defence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puga, Benoit 1953 births Living people People from Saint-Mandé French generals Grand Chancellors of the Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Commanders of the Order of Agricultural Merit Commanders of the Legion of Merit Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Commanders of the National Order of Mali Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Senegal