Stéphane Abrial
| Stéphane Abrial link Wikidata | |
|---|---|
| File:General Stéphane Abrial.jpg | |
| Born | 7 September 1954 Condom, Gers,France |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École de l'air,U.S. Air Force Academy,USAF Air War College |
French military leader with lots of US ties, MSC. | |
General Stéphane Abrial is a French general, educated in the United States, who is the previous commander of Allied Command Transformation based in Norfolk, VA, one of the two NATO strategic commands. His previous posting was as the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force.[1]
Since July 2015, Abrial has been senior executive vice president of international and public affairs of the armaments company Safran.
In April 2023, he wrote an open letter pushing for more arms to Ukraine and increased armaments spending[2].
French military career
General Stéphane Abrial graduated in 1973 from the French Air Force academy (École de l'air), and in 1974 from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He completed pilot training at the French Air Force Academy in 1976.
From 1977 to 1991, he was a fighter pilot both in France (in Cambrai, Dijon and Orange) and, from 1981 to 1984, in a West German Luftwaffe unit. In 1988, he assisted the Greek Air Force in converting its first unit equipped with the Mirage 2000.
In 1991, he took part in the first Gulf War as a fighter pilot and commander of the French Air Force's 5th Fighter Squadron. Later that year, he attended the Air War College, at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.
From 1992 to 1996, he was in the staff of the French Air Force Chief of Staff and the Chief of Defense Staff. From 1996 to 1999, he worked at NATO Headquarters, in Brussels. In 2000, he became deputy head of the French President's military staff, and in 2002 was appointed head of the French Prime Minister's military staff.
In 2005, General Abrial became head of the French Air Defense headquarters, in Taverny, and in 2006 Air Force Chief of Staff.[3]
NATO Supreme Allied Commander
Abrial received appointment by the North Atlantic Council as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation on 29 July 2009, the first European to be appointed permanently as head of a NATO strategic command.
In April 2010, he received a Distinguished Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council.[4]
References
- ↑ https://archive.today/20120908230924/http://www.professionpolitique.info/nomination/15-06-09/le-general-d-armee-aerienne-stephane-abrial-54-ans-actuel-chef-d-etat-major-de-l
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/17/democracies-vladimir-putin-ukraine-diplomatic-military-europe
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160919221638/http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/base/annexes/biographie_du_general_abrial
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200320160135/http://www.act.nato.int/news.asp?storyid=514