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Political and defence Europe (by Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

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EUTM Mali. A porpoise succeeds a porpoise

General Bruno GUIBERT(BRUSSELS2) The French general, Bruno Guibert, current head of the 1st Mechanized Brigade, will take over – from August 1 – from General Lecointre at the head of the training mission of the Malian army (EUTM Mali). His appointment was confirmed today at the PSC, the EU's political and security committee.

A porpoise succeeds a porpoise

General Lecointre opened the mission last February, ensuring the establishment of the training of a first battalion of Malian soldiers. A mission which had aroused some skepticism among certain military and European observers who always found reason to criticize either Europeans who were too cautious, or the danger or the scale of the task. This was not our point of view at B2, both when studying the various (elaborated) mission documents and when we went on site. And the result was there, at the end of June, with the end of the training of the Waraba battalion (Lion in Bambara). The second battalion — Helou (Elephant in Tamachek) — is currently being trained. And it will be the task of General Guibert and his multinational team to carry it out.

Marine paratroopers to the 1st Mechanized Brigade

Born in 1962, graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1981 (Grande Armée promotion), Bruno Guibert then chose the Marine troops. He served in the 3rd and 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiments (RPIMa) as combat section leader and then as combat company commander (1984-1993). In 1993, he left for Djibouti as an operations – training – budget officer at the Joint Staff, then in 1995 was head of the support/finance section at the command of the Army training organizations. After higher military education courses at the National School of Mines in Nancy and at the Joint Defense College in Paris, from 1997 to 2000, he joined the 2nd RPIMa in Reunion, as head of the operations – instruction office. In 2002, he joined the command of doctrine and higher military education; he is head of the “studies” and project management section at the operational research and simulation center, before taking command in 2004 of the 3rd RPIMa in Carcassonne. In 2006, he joined the plans – programs division of the Army staff in Paris, as head of the capability coherence section in the plans office, then from July 2009 as head of the plans office. Promoted on August 1, 2012, to brigadier general, he took command of the 1st mechanized brigade in Châlons-en-Champagne.

With 5 men and women, the 700st BM, heiress of the 1st Armored Division (which landed in Provence on August 1, 15) includes 1944 regiments - the 5ster infantry regiment (1er RI) of Sarrebourg, on 1er rifle regiment (1er RTir) from Épinal, on 1er spahis regiment (1er RS) of Valence, on 1er marine artillery regiment (1er RAMa) of Laon and the 3e engineer regiment (3e RG) from Charleville-Mézières — as well as 3 other units: the 1re command and signals company, a lighting and investigation squadron and an intelligence battery brigade.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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