DEPUTY COMMANDER
Brigadier General (FR) Loïc GIRARD
Brigadier General (FR) Loïc GIRARD was posted to BUCHAREST as the Deputy Commander of Headquarters Multinational Division South-East (HQ MND-SE) and also as the French Senior Military Representative to ROMANIA, on the 1st of August 2023.
BG Loïc GIRARD commissioned from Saint-Cyr (the Maréchal LANNES intake, 1993-1996) into the French Army’s Marine Infantry and undertook junior officer training at the Armour School in SAUMUR in 1997.
His career since then has been very varied. He has served frequently at the regimental level, but also at Staff Colleges, a range of headquarters appointments, including the French Army HQ, and a significant number of overseas operational deployments. The ‘golden thread’ throughout his career has however been operational engagement.
His first posting was with the 1st Marine Infantry Regiment as a Troop Commander. He was to return to this Regiment frequently throughout his career and has commanded the Brigade Reconnaissance Squadron, been the Regiment’s senior operations and training staff officer and, finally, he went on to Command the Regiment in 2015. He deployed with the Regiment on a number of occasions; serving in Bosnia (with NATO), French Guyana, the Ivory Coast (five times), Mali and Lebanon (with the UN). He also completed a number of homeland security deployments.
In between these assignments, he served as Company-Second-in-Command with the PACIFIC-POLYNESIA Marine infantry regiment in TAHITI (2000-2002) and as a staff officer in the French Army’s specialised overseas academy (EMSOME) in RUEIL-MALMAISON. He was assigned to the NATO HQ in BRUNSSUM (the NETHERLANDS) dealing with AFGHANISTAN (2008) as J2 officer in charge of Regional Command East. He has been posted twice to the French Army HQ’s personnel and human resources directorate – first, dealing with human resources policy and, second, with personnel management. He was also the Military Assistant to French Commander Land Forces in LILLE.
His multinational experience began early with his first operational mission as a lieutenant with NATO and he has continued to serve in multinational environments until his last posting as a colonel with the UN. These postings included working at NATO JFC BRUNSSUM and at the French Land Force Command where he had to maintain close links with other Allied armies.
He’s a graduate of the French Joint Services War College and has been a member of the 69th course at the French Centre for Higher Military Studies and of the 72nd course at the National Defence Institute in PARIS. Finally, he has attended the NATO Generals, Flag Officers and Ambassadors’ course (GFOAC) in ROME in 2023.
BG Loïc GIRARD holds the Legion of Honour, the Order of Merit, the Military Valour Cross with two mentions in dispatches and several foreign decorations (NATO, UN, LEBANON, IVORY COAST).
His interests include geopolitics, history, family travel but also gastronomy. He is an honorary citizen of the town of ANGOULEME and a Knight of the TASTEVIN Order.
BG Loïc GIRARD is married with Sophie and they have four children.