the essential
New commander of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (RPIMa) since August 8, 2024, but also head of the Carcassonne defense base and departmental military delegate for Aude, Colonel de Poncharra talks about his career, but also what lies ahead for the elite Carcassonne regiment in the year 2025.
Colonel Colomban de Poncharra is atypical for several reasons. First of all, because he took command of the 3rd RPIMa in Carcassonne on August 8, 2024, while he was on an external operation in Chad, with his predecessor Colonel Benoît Cussac: “I stayed there for two and a half months, before returning in mid-October…” Atypical too, because he is the third commander “child of 3”for having passed there “all my life”, or at least a good part of it. Colomban, his first name, is also atypical: for the record, it refers to Colomban de Luxeuil, an Irish monk at the origin of the evangelization of the rural populations of Gaul, Alemania, Helvetia and Italy …
Aged 45, married and father of six children, it is in Niort (Deux-Sèvres) that the commander of the “3” saw the light of day. His father was a soldier in the Foreign Legion. Suffice it to say that he moved “almost everywhere in France, as well as around the world”. After obtaining his Baccalaureate, and after his preparatory classes at La Flèche (Sarthe) between 1997 and 2000, it was in 2001 that he was admitted to Saint-Cyr. In 2004, he then moved to the infantry school in Montpellier (it is today in Draguignan, Editor's note), before joining the 3rd RPIMa in Carcassonne in 2005: “The state of mind of the 3rd attracted me more than that of other regiments. I read a lot about its history…” Then a lieutenant, he was section chief and went to Ivory Coast, Gabon and the Central African Republic. In 2007, the young officer will fly to Saint-Pierre de La Réunion, where he will be assigned to the 2nd RPIMa as section leader, then deputy officer. From the Indian Ocean, he returned to Carcassonne in 2009. He was deputy officer of the 1st company, then of the 2nd until 2011, and was deployed to Gabon in 2010. He then commanded the 2nd company from 2011 to 2013, and will carry out a new mission in Gabon in 2012.
“From 2021 to 2024, three busy years…”
This will be followed by an assignment to Paris between 2013 and 2018, where the officer will serve in a unit fighting cross-functional threats at the Operations Planning and Control Center. During his duties, he will notably be deployed to Mali in 2018 as chief of staff and head of operations under the command of General Andersson. From 2018 to 2019, he will attend the War School, from which he will graduate. Then will join the 3rd RPIMa in Carcassonne from 2019 to 2021, as head of operations. He is sent to Mali, then to Niger… From 2021 to 2024, he will be sent to Djibouti to the joint staff of the French forces, where he is head of the operations division: “It was three particularly busy years, where we had to manage the Ethiopian, Sudanese, Somali, South Sudanese crises, plus the start of a crisis in the Red Sea with Yemen and the Houthi forces…”
-On August 8, 2024, it was in Chad that he took command of the 3rd RPIMa in Carcassonne, more than 3,000 kilometers away. He succeeds Colonel Benoît Cussac, at the head of a regiment currently numbering 1,200 paratroopers, with four combat companies, and a logistics, lighting and support company. Each year, 200 are recruited. THE “3” can also count on a reserve of 250 people. “It’s a real satisfaction for a leader, everything is going well for us. Especially since we were chosen to be the first regiment in the Army to be equipped with Serval armored vehicles”rejoices Colonel de Poncharra.
“We are at the forefront of the Scorpion combat system, which we have already adopted. Since 1948, the 3 has been in this constant innovation. My objective is to maintain this spirit, in order to gain even more autonomy in combat , by developing a certain spirit of initiative… With me, I also have an extraordinary command team to support me If the regiment no longer surprises me, my paratroopers will always surprise me!”
In a few days, the 4th company of the 3rd RPIMa will be sent to Guyana to fight against illegal gold panning. In February, the lighting and support company will be deployed to New Caledonia. “There will then be a succession of exercises on the eastern side of Europe, in Estonia and Romania, as part of a partnership with NATO. Our job is to be ready to defend our interests with our allies. The world is shaking, but not on the 3rd. He is ready to intervene where the French need him.”concludes Colonel de Poncharra.
