François Lecointre
François Gérard Marie Lecointre (; born 6 February 1962) is a French army general who served as Chief of the Defence Staff between 2017 and 2021. As a captain, with Lieutenant Bruno Heluin (platoon leader) as the company commanding officer, he led an assault at the Battle of Vrbanja Bridge in 1995 that was the last fixed bayonet charge of the French Armed Forces. Biography François Lecointre was born on 6 February 1962 in Cherbourg into a military family. His father, Yves Urbain Marie Lecointre (5 April 1932 – 1985), was a French naval officer and submariner who served as the commandant of SNLE Le Redoutable. One of his uncles, Hélie de Roffignac, was a cavalry officer who died in Algeria at the age of 23. Military career Lecointre attended preparatory classes at the Prytanée National Militaire in La Flèche. He subsequently studied at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (Promotion Général Monclar) from 1984 to 1987 and then at the Infantry School from 1987 to 1988. Lecointre joined the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, where he served from 1988 to 1991. Lecointre was promoted from lieutenant to captain in the marine infantry on 1 July 1991. From 1993 to 1996, he was a combat company commander of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment in Vannes. As a captain, Lecointre was involved in the Opération Turquoise in 1994 in Rwanda. He commanded the 1st company of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (3e RIMa) in the Groupement Nord Turquoise. Lecointre was also engaged with French forces under the command of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during the Bosnian War. Under the orders of General Hervé Gobilliard and Colonel Erik Sandahl, Lecointre and Lieutenant Bruno Heluin led a bayonet charge to win the Battle of Vrbanja Bridge on 27 May 1995. According to journalist Jean Guisnel, the episode turned the tide of the war and led to victory in Bosnia. From 1996 to 1999, Lecointre was an instructor at the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr in Coëtquidan, Morbihan where he trained student officers in military tactics. From 1999 to 2001, he was a trainee officer at the Joint Defense College (now École Militaire). He then served in the office of the Chief of Staff of the French Army in Paris at the crops bureau of system conception forces. From 2005 to 2007, Colonel Lecointre was the commanding officer of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment in Vannes. From 2007 to 2008, he studied at the Center of High Military Studies (CHEM) and was an auditor at the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale (IHEDN) in Paris. He was promoted to brigade general on 1 August 2011, and was in command of the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade in Poitiers until 2013. Lecointre was later appointed as commander of the European Union Training Mission in Mali from January to July 2013. He rejoined the general staff headquarters of the French Army as a chargé de mission, becoming deputy-chief of the defence staff for « performance-synthèse