Foreign Legion: 2021 Change of Command took place in six regiments

In July 2021, six Foreign Legion regiments have already had their new commanding officers. As usually, the commanders had spent two years in command. See images.

The 1st Foreign Regiment (1er RE), the Legion’s motherhouse, saw the change of command ceremony in Aubagne on June 28. Colonel Jérôme Clée was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud de Peretti. Born in 1973, an officer in 1997, Arnaud de Peretti chose the Foreign Legion in July of the same year. He served six years as a platoon leader with the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC). After serving at Saint Cyr (French military academy equivalent to West Point), he returned to the Legion for two years to command CAC (anti-tank company) of the 2e REI. Then he once again left the Legion and did his master degree in history at the Sorbonne. After the studies, he was the head of doctrine, employment and feedback on tanks at the French cavalry school in Saumur. Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud de Peretti spent also three years at the Defence Academy in the United Kingdom and is a wargame designer specialized on tank strategies.

1st Foreign Regiment: 2021 Change of Command - Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud de Peretti
Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud de Peretti, the new commanding officer of the 1er RE, during the change of command ceremony in Aubagne, June 28, 2021.

 

The 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment changed the commanding officer – Colonel Nicolas Meunier – at Camp Carpiagne (near Marseille) on July 21. Colonel Henri Leinekugel Le Cocq replaced him at the head of the only cavalry unit of the Legion. Born in 1977, he left the Saint-Cyr military academy in 2001. Between 2017 and 2019, he served with the 1er REC as the head of the regiment’s Operations-Training Bureau (BOI).

1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment: 2021 Change of Command - Colonel Henri Leinekugel Le Cocq
Colonel Henri Leinekugel Le Cocq, the new commanding officer of the 1er REC, during the change of command ceremony at Camp Carpiagne, July 21, 2021.

 

The 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) got their new chef de corps in Laudun on July 20. Colonel Antoine Fleuret left the unit and was replaced by Colonel François Perrier.

1st Foreign Engineer Regiment: 2021 Change of Command - Colonel François Perrier
Colonel François Perrier, the new commanding officer of the 1er REG, July 20, 2021.

 

The 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG), nicknamed “Mountain Regiment”, have already had their new commanding officer at Saint-Christol since mid-May. Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Combe replaced the leaving Colonel Antoine Faurichon de la Bardonnie. Born in 1976, an officer in 2001, Second Lieutenant Emmanuel Combe joined the Legion the same year and became an enlisted volunteer platoon leader with the 4th Foreign Regiment. In 2004, he moved to Laudun to join the 1er REG, where he was promoted to captain in 2005 and took over the Combat Support Company. With this regiment, he served in Djibouti, Kosovo, Ivory Coast, Mayotte and Afghanistan. After a pause in 2013-2015, he returned to the Legion and joined the 2e REG as the head of the regiment’s Operations-Training Bureau. He participated in operations in Mali, West Africa. In 2017, he left the regiment to return back in 2021.

2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment: 2021 Change of Command - Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Combe
Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Combe, the new head of the 2e REG since May 2021.

 

The 4th Foreign Regiment (4e RE), the Legion’s school, saw the change of command ceremony in Castelnaudary on July 5. Colonel Thibault Capdeville was replaced by Colonel Michaël Hamann. A cavalry officer in 2005, he joined as a platoon leader the 13e DBLE in Djibouti. In 2007, he left Africa to be transferred to the 1er REC, where he served until 2012, becoming a captain with the 1st Squadron. With this regiment, Michaël Hamann participated in operations in Afghanistan, in Uganda, in the Central African Republic and in Chad. Thereafter, he became an instructor at the military academy of Saint-Cyr. Between 2016 and 2019, he did his advanced military studies. The same year, he joined the COMLE where he commanded the Synthesis, Management & Research Bureau (BEPS). In 2021, Colonel Hamann left the Legion’s Command to take over the training regiment.

4th Foreign Regiment: 2021 Change of Command - Colonel Michaël Hamann
Colonel Michaël Hamann, the new commanding officer of the 4e RE, during the change of command ceremony in Castelnaudary, July 5, 2021.

 

The Foreign Legion Detachment in Mayotte (DLEM), stationed in the Indian Ocean, close to Madagascar, bid farewell to their outgoing commander – Colonel Hugues Latournerie – in Dzaoudzi (Mayotte) on July 16. Lieutenant Colonel Axel Girard became the new head of the detachment. An officer in 1998, he joined immediatelly the Foreign Legion to serve as a platoon leader with the 4e RE.

DLEM Mayotte Detachment: 2021 Change of Command - Lieutenant Colonel Axel Girard
Lieutenant Colonel Axel Girard, the new commanding officer of the DLEM since July 16, 2021.

 
 

Related posts:
Foreign Legion: 2020 Change of Command
2e REI: 2020 Change of Command
13e DBLE: 2020 Change of Command
2e REP: 2014 Change of Command at Camp Raffalli