Andréa Grimani's strong character allows her to have a clear objective at just 16 years old: to become a water bomber helicopter pilot. The youngest member of the Pontarlier flying club, she is one of 30 young people aged 16 to 21 to have been selected at the national level to participate in the ALAT course last October.
A military internship that “gives him rage”
In May 2024, Andréa Grimani decided to take the aeronautical initiation certificate (BIA), an essential condition for applying for the military internship. “ALAT, I’ve been thinking about it for a while”. It was thanks to his membership in the Pontarlier flying club last August that the project became concrete. “I did my first hours of flying with my trainer Charles and it was he who told me about the ALAT again. I then decided to submit my application but I didn't believe it. I thought they would favor candidates aged 21”remembers the young woman.
And yet, here she is selected and she is the only intern to come from Franche-Comté. For five days, she discovered the military world. “It’s weird but it’s really nice because we find ourselves in a somewhat secret environment. Above all, we can talk with passionate people and that’s the greatest gift”smiles Andrea. Days regulated to the second. Wake up at 6 a.m., ten minutes of preparation, bed in the square, respect for superiors, community service, sport then in the afternoon, exchanges with the different trades: dog handlers, firefighters, control tower, hangar, etc. “We feel tired but these are unforgettable moments. It made me angry, I wanted to explode everything”. A determination that she intends to put to the benefit of her goal of becoming a water bomber helicopter pilot in Chile.
Chile, country of heart
Behind this project, a story. In 2016, she went to Viña Del Mar, Chile, for a year with her parents. Not speaking a word of Spanish, she joined the equivalent of a CE2 class in France. An experience that upsets the teenager. “I have a very strong bond with the Chileans. My friends taught me the language, took me under their wings even though I didn't speak a single word at first.”. A project led by his father, who now travels to the South American country every year to organize fire training. He is part of the national steering group for fighting forest fires in Chile. Andréa returned there for two weeks at the end of 2023. A trip which disturbs her again.
“Chile is very affected by fires. This is what motivated me to want to be a water bomber pilot. As soon as a fire breaks out there, I don't have peace of mind. In February 2024, there was a very big one. I no longer have news of a friend I was very close to, I don't want to check on his death”she confides.
So she lives at a hundred miles an hour to get there. She revised her BIA alongside her classes. She is also part of the Chilean youth brigade (equivalent to Young Firefighters in France) from which she receives distance learning courses. Andréa plans to work all summer to finance a new ticket to the South American country. Even if her desire is to be in the air, she nevertheless remains down to earth: “I apply myself in my work to obtain the best possible baccalaureate and fall back on something else if I cannot achieve my project”. But if she succeeds, “I will water my friends from above”she laughs.
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