As on the 1st of August 2020, a new commander of the French Foreign Legion will be appointed to replace the current one, after his two years of command.

In August 2020, General Alain Lardet will become the new Commander of the Foreign Legion to replace his predecessor, General Denis Mistral who has supervised the Legion since August 2018.

General Alain Lardet had joined the Foreign Legion immediately after his studies (1989-92) at the prestigious Military School of Saint-Cyr (French “West Point”). In 1993, he was assigned to the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) as a platoon leader. He left the regiment eight years later, in 2001, as a company commander (1st Company). Having achieved additional military studies, he returned back to the 2e REP to take over Operations & Instruction Bureau (2007-09). During his service with the regiment, Alain Lardet saw missions and deployments in ex-Yugoslavia (Mitrovica), Djibouti, Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast.

In 2011, after an two-year appointment at the Strategic Affairs (under France’s Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs), Colonel Lardet took command of the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI) in French Guiana in South America.

He left the 3e REI and the Legion in 2013 to return back as the head of the Foreign Legion Command (COMLE) in 2020.