On October 11, 2024, General Thierry Burkhard, Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces, paid a visit to the 5th Foreign Regiment (5e RE) in Mayotte, Indian Ocean. He was the first head of the French Armed Forces to visit the island.
General Burkhard, who has been in office since mid-2021, knows the Foreign Legion very well. As a young second lieutenant, he decided to serve in it after his promotion from the Saint-Cyr military academy in 1989. He spent his first seven years in the Legion in the 2e REP in Corsica. Later, Thierry Burkhard served in the 4e RE and also commanded the 13e DBLE in Djibouti, Horn of Africa, from 2008 to 2010. From 2019 to 2021, he was the chief of the French Army.
General Burkhard paid a visit to Mayotte and the 5e RE as part of his inspection of France’s South Indian Ocean Zone Armed Forces (FAZSOI). Apart from an official inauguration of the new, long-awaited military canteen, he encouraged the recent transformation of the former DLEM into a new 5th Foreign Regiment, as well as the intensification of operational activity around the challenges facing Mayotte and its region.
PHOTOS: Head of the French Armed Forces in Mayotte, October 2024
Click on the FB icon (or the image previews) to see all the photos.
—
Related posts:
5e RE: Miss France 2024 in Mayotte
DLEM: 2024 Camerone Day in Mayotte
DLEM: 2024 DIO Training in Lesotho
History of the 5th Foreign Regiment