bobdina
07-30-2009, 04:50 PM
French gen. to replace Mattis at NATO command
Staff and wire reports
Posted : Thursday Jul 30, 2009 10:20:53 EDT
NATO says Gen. Stephane Abrial of the French air force will replace Gen. James Mattis as NATO’s commander in charge of military modernization.
Abrial will take over a key alliance command in Norfolk, Va., in charge of transforming the Europe-centered Cold War alliance to handle the global challenges it faces today.
Mattis will continue to serve as the commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, a position he has held since 2007. He was nominated for reappointment to the position by President Obama on July 28, according to a Defense Department news release.
French President Charles de Gaulle pulled his country out of the NATO command in 1966. France remained a NATO member but stayed outside the alliance’s decision-making core.
"This appointment, following that of General Philippe Stolz to Commander of the Allied Joint Command Lisbon, July 20, confirms Europe's strengthened role in the heart of the Alliance, which was at the heart of France's decision to resume its place in the NATO command structure."
Abrial, currently chief of staff for the French Air Force, takes up his post Sept. 9 at Norfolk, Va.
Abrial is seen as one of the brightest young generals in the French armed forces and enjoyed strong support from the U.S. side.
"The Americans know him very well," a French defense executive said. "It was a personal choice as much as a political one. He carried NATO relations on his shoulders."
Palace politics also played a role. Apart from his personal qualities recommending him for the NATO post, other French generals were pleased to see him go abroad because his youth and intelligence were seen as a threat, a U.S. official said.
The qualities of youth and intellect were deemed to have made Abrial unsuitable for the post of chief of the Defense Staff here, as he would probably have been less easily swayed by political influence, the U.S. official said. It was also not the French Air Force's turn to hold the top job in the French military. But with a few years of high-level NATO experience, Abrial would make an even stronger contender for the position of chief of the Defense Staff, the U.S. official said.
Staff and wire reports
Posted : Thursday Jul 30, 2009 10:20:53 EDT
NATO says Gen. Stephane Abrial of the French air force will replace Gen. James Mattis as NATO’s commander in charge of military modernization.
Abrial will take over a key alliance command in Norfolk, Va., in charge of transforming the Europe-centered Cold War alliance to handle the global challenges it faces today.
Mattis will continue to serve as the commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, a position he has held since 2007. He was nominated for reappointment to the position by President Obama on July 28, according to a Defense Department news release.
French President Charles de Gaulle pulled his country out of the NATO command in 1966. France remained a NATO member but stayed outside the alliance’s decision-making core.
"This appointment, following that of General Philippe Stolz to Commander of the Allied Joint Command Lisbon, July 20, confirms Europe's strengthened role in the heart of the Alliance, which was at the heart of France's decision to resume its place in the NATO command structure."
Abrial, currently chief of staff for the French Air Force, takes up his post Sept. 9 at Norfolk, Va.
Abrial is seen as one of the brightest young generals in the French armed forces and enjoyed strong support from the U.S. side.
"The Americans know him very well," a French defense executive said. "It was a personal choice as much as a political one. He carried NATO relations on his shoulders."
Palace politics also played a role. Apart from his personal qualities recommending him for the NATO post, other French generals were pleased to see him go abroad because his youth and intelligence were seen as a threat, a U.S. official said.
The qualities of youth and intellect were deemed to have made Abrial unsuitable for the post of chief of the Defense Staff here, as he would probably have been less easily swayed by political influence, the U.S. official said. It was also not the French Air Force's turn to hold the top job in the French military. But with a few years of high-level NATO experience, Abrial would make an even stronger contender for the position of chief of the Defense Staff, the U.S. official said.