Admiral Pierre Vandier, 56, succeeds General Philippe Lavigne, of the Air and Space Force.
Admiral Pierre Vandier, in Paris, November 11, 2021 (POOL / LUDOVIC MARIN)
Admiral Pierre Vandier, former chief of staff of the Navy and currently number two on the general staff of the French armies, has been appointed
“Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT)”
one of NATO’s two strategic commanders, we learned on Friday June 21 from consistent sources.
Aged 56, he succeeds General Philippe Lavigne, of the Air and Space Force, according to a French military source and a diplomatic source in Brussels.
Two-headed command
The position has been held by a French general officer for many years and is headquartered in Norfolk, United States.
The Alliance’s second strategic post, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), is held by an American based in Brussels
.
At a time when NATO’s strategic role has increased considerably against a backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Admiral Vandier, 56, will be responsible in particular for “promoting and supervising the continued transformation of the forces and capabilities of the Alliance”, according to the job description on the NATO website. “It contributes to identifying and then prioritizing future capability needs and interoperability needs” and takes responsibility for “the training and training programs” of the organization.
Admiral Vandier was also head of the military cabinet of Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly. A graduate of the Naval Academy, Pierre Vandier received his naval aeronautics pilot’s license in 1993 and led missions in the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, within the French naval air group. Commander of the frigate Surcouf, in 2008 he participated in the operation to free hostages held by pirates on the sailboat Ponant in the Indian Ocean.
In the summer of 2011, he took on the role of head of operations for the Africa zone and participated in the supervision of French air operations in Libya.
In 2013, he headed the crisis unit for Operation Serval in Mali. He then commanded the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle until 2015, engaged during this period in Operation Chammal within the international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria.
Promoted to rear admiral in 2017, he was appointed commander of the Toulon defense base. In 2018, he published his work on “Deterrence in the third nuclear age” (ed. du Rocher).
