Foreign Legion: 2026 Change of Command | French Foreign Legion Information

On August 1, 2026, Brigadier General Christophe Passerat de La Chapelle took officially command of the French Foreign Legion and became the new Père Légion, or “Father of the Legion.” He succeeded Major General Cyrille Youchtchenko, who had led the elite corps for the past three years.

Born in 1973, Passerat de La Chapelle is a career infantry officer who has spent much of his service in the Legion itself. He entered Saint-Cyr, France’s equivalent of West Point, in 1995, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1997, and rose to First Lieutenant on August 1, 1998. After a further year of infantry training, he joined the Legion in 1999 and was posted to the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), its airborne regiment, based at Calvi, Corsica.

He spent the next seven years with the regiment. He first led a platoon within the 3rd “Amphibious” Company, then the parachute commando group — the renowned GCP, a unit trained for deep reconnaissance and special operations — and later commanded the 2nd Company, the regiment’s mountain-warfare unit. During this stretch he deployed abroad four times, serving in Kosovo, Macedonia, the Central African Republic, and Ivory Coast. He was promoted to Captain on August 1, 2002, while still with the 2e REP.

In 2006 he left Calvi for a posting as a parachute liaison officer with France’s Air Force Command, then won a place at the École de guerre, the country’s war college. He was deployed to Afghanistan during these years, and after further staff schooling was promoted to Major on December 1, 2008. He returned to the Legion in 2011, joining its headquarters in Aubagne, and made Lieutenant Colonel in 2012. He then served as operations chief on the staff of the 11th Parachute Brigade in Toulouse, the airborne formation that the 2e REP falls under, and was sent to Chad to help plan Operation Barkhane, France’s counterterrorism campaign in the Sahel, the semi-arid belt along the southern edge of the Sahara. After later assignments with the Army inspectorate and the Army general staff, he was promoted to Colonel on November 1, 2016.

In 2018 he came back to Calvi to take command of the 2e REP itself, a post he held for two years. In 2020 he deployed with his regiment to the Sahel as part of Operation Barkhane. He was promoted to Brigadier General in July 2024 and most recently held a senior policy and personnel post at the French Army’s human resources directorate.

The new Commander of the Foreign Legion (COMLE) is widely seen as a natural fit for the command, described as a leader deeply attached to the Legion, to its history, and to the esprit de corps that holds its ranks together, and one who clearly respects the legionnaires. Among those who know him, he is regarded as the strongest choice the Legion could have asked for to take the reins.

General Passerat de La Chapelle is an Officer of the Legion of Honor and an Officer of the National Order of Merit. Now 53, he is married and has five children.

Foreign Legion - COMLE - 2026 - General Christophe Passerat de La Chapelle

Photo credits: Légion étrangère/Armée de terre/Défense

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