François Gérard Marie Lecointre (; born 6 February 1962) is a French

army general Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

who has served as Grand Chancellor of the Order of the Legion of Honour since 1 February 2023. He previously served as Chief of the Defence Staff between 2017 and 2021.Government of the French Republic (23 January 2023). . Retrieved 23 January 2023. The son of a naval officer, Lecointre joined 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 ...

in 1984. As a

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 ...

, with

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 ...

Bruno Heluin (platoon leader) as the company commanding officer, he led an assault at the Battle of Vrbanja Bridge in 1995 that was the latest fixed bayonet

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

of the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' milita ...

Biography

François Lecointre was born on 6 February 1962 in

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

into a military family. His father, Yves Urbain Marie Lecointre (5 April 1932 – 17 July 1985), was a French

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

r who served as the commandant of SNLE ''Le Redoutable''. One of his uncles, Hélie de Roffignac, was a cavalry officer who died in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

at the age of 23. A practicing

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, François Lecointre is married since 1986 and has four daughters.

Military career

Lecointre attended preparatory classes at the Prytanée National Militaire in

La Flèche La Flèche () is a town and commune in the French department of Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region in the Loire Valley. It is the sub-prefecture of the South-Sarthe, the chief district and the chief city of a canton, and the second most p ...

. He subsequently studied at 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 ...

(Promotion '' Général Monclar'') from 1984 to 1987 and then at the Infantry School from 1987 to 1988. Lecointre joined the

3rd Marine Infantry Regiment The 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment () is a unit of the French Army. The 3e RIMa is one of the oldest of the troupes de marine. This regiment is one of the "Quatre Grands" of marine infantry once garrisoned within the four military ports, ready to ...

, where he served from 1988 to 1991. Lecointre was promoted from lieutenant to captain in the

marine infantry Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

on 1 July 1991. From 1993 to 1996, he was a combat company commander of the

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

. 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 ( 3^e RIMa) in the ''Groupement Nord Turquoise''. Lecointre was also engaged with French forces under the command of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

. Under the orders of General Hervé Gobilliard and Colonel Erik Sandahl, Lecointre and Lieutenant Bruno Heluin led a bayonet

to win the Battle of Vrbanja Bridge on 27 May 1995. According to journalist Jean Guisnel, the episode turned the tide of the war and led to victory in Bosnia. From 1996 to 1999, Lecointre was an instructor at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in

Coëtquidan Académie militaire de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan (, , abbr. AMSCC) is a French military educational facility located in the Morbihan department of Brittany in France. It forms a part of the commune of Guer and covers an area of approximately 64 ...

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

where he trained student officers in military tactics. From 1999 to 2001, he was a trainee officer at the Joint Defense College (now

École Militaire École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

). He then served in the office of the

Chief of Staff of the French Army 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 bo ...

in Paris at the crops bureau of system conception forces. From 2005 to 2007,

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 ...

Lecointre was the commanding officer of the

in Vannes. From 2007 to 2008, he studied at the Center of High Military Studies (CHEM) and was an auditor at the

Institut des hautes études de défense nationale An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(IHEDN) in Paris. He was promoted to brigade general on 1 August 2011; he was in command of the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade in Poitiers until 2013. Lecointre was later 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 as a ''chargé de mission'', becoming deputy-chief of the defence staff for "''performance-synthèse''" from 2014 to 2016. Lecointre was promoted to division general on 1 January 2015. Head of the Prime Minister's military cabinet from August 2016, Lecointre was elevated by a decree of President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

from the first section of general officers to the rank of

corps general 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 French Revolutionary System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional ge ...

on 1 March 2017. On 20 July 2017, Lecointre was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff by President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

, following the resignation of General Pierre de Villiers; he was promoted to the rank of

Général d'armée is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level offic ...

. General Lecointre made his first official visit to the United States in February 2018, where he met with his American counterpart

Joseph Dunford Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. (born 23 December 1955) is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019. He was the 36th commandant of the Marine C ...

to discuss the ongoing

War against the Islamic State Many states began to intervene against the Islamic State, in both the Syrian civil war and the War in Iraq (2013–2017), in response to its rapid territorial gains from its Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014), 2014 Northern Iraq offensives, u ...

and progress on the G5 Sahel. On 21 July 2021, Lecointre retired from active service and was succeeded by General

Thierry Burkhard Thierry Burkhard (; born 30 July 1964) is a French Army general who has served as Chief of the Defence Staff (France), Chief of the Defence Staff since 22 July 2021. Prior to his appointment to the top post, Burkhard previously served as Chief of ...

as Chief of Defence Staff. After a brief period outside the public eye, he was made Grand Cross and Grand Chancellor of the Order of the Legion of Honour per 1 February 2023, succeeding fellow retired General Benoît Puga.

Military ranks

Honours and decorations

Publications

* François Lecointre (dir.), ''Le soldat : XXe – XXIe siècle'', Gallimard, coll. « Folio Histoire », 2018. With a foreword by French historian Jean-Pierre Rioux. This book is a collection of articles published in the French review of military studies : ''Inflexions - Civils et militaires : pouvoir dire'', of which general Lecointre was a publishing director in 2015–2017. * ''Entre guerres'', Gallimard, 2024.

References

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lecointre, Francois Chiefs of the Defence Staff (France) Chiefs of the Staff of the French Army French generals French military staff 20th-century French military personnel 21st-century French military personnel Grand Chancellors of the Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Commanders of the Legion of Merit Commanders of the National Order of Mali Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Senegal École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni Living people 1962 births People from Cherbourg-Octeville