A French admiral at the head of Nestor?

(BRUXELLES2, exclusive) It is a former Alindien - commander of the French forces in the Indian Ocean from 2007 to 2009 -, who could take the head of the European mission of reinforcement of maritime capacities in the Indian Ocean Eucap Nestor. The selection board accepted his candidacy, which must now be approved by the High Representative. Admiral Jacques Launay was until recently (February) Inspector General of the Armies. He was also Naval Attaché at the French Embassy in Bonn (from 1995 to 1998) and Defense Attaché at the Embassy in London (from 2004 to 2007). He took part in the Allied operation for Kosovo (Allied Force/Trident) aboard the aircraft carrier Foch, as deputy operation chief of TF 470 in the spring of 1999. He is a follower of long-term thinking . During a conference in Dunkirk at the beginning of the year, he explained: We must measure the long term, which demonstrates the permanence and the political will, the strategic interest in the long term, and not sacrifice to short-term reflections”.

Born November 30, 1954, Jacques Launay entered the naval school in September 1974. He first served on the patrol boat The Dieppoise in Nouméa from 1977, then on the submarine The Lightning in 1979. In 1980, he took command of the dredger Peony. Having followed the detector officer course, he was assigned in 1982 to the anti-submarine frigate Tourville. He then served as head of the detection department on the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc (1984 to 1986) then on the anti-aircraft frigate Cassard. In 1988, he took command of the aviso Commanding the Herminier. After a stint at the command staff of the region and the Atlantic maritime zone, he took courses at the Hamburg Military Academy from 1990 to 1992 where he received the “Clausewitz” prize. From 1992 to 1995, he was assigned to the Navy's military personnel department as officer manager. In 1998, he joined the staff of the naval action force, within the force management division, and on September 1, 1999 took command of the anti-submarine frigate Latouche-Tréville in Brest until in the summer of 2001. After having followed the national session of the IHEDN, he became, in 2002, Deputy Director “European and Strategic Affairs” at the SGDN.