Former boss of the 11th BP in Toulouse, General de Montgros appointed head of French military intelligence
Commander of the 11th Parachute Brigade until last July, General Jacques de Montgros will now lead the Military Intelligence Directorate after the ousting of General Eric Vidaud.
It is not a surprise. As soon as the dismissal of General Eric Vidaud was announced at the end of March, the name of General Jacques de Montgros had circulated to succeed him. This morning, the appointment of the latter was made in the Council of Ministers and quickly known in Toulouse. Now a general of the army corps, this native of Lozérien, former boss of the 11th Parachute Brigade and former commanding officer of the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment of Tarbes, thus takes, with this fourth star, the head of French military intelligence in a context of war in Ukraine which cost his predecessor dearly, his service having been criticized by the executive for not having seen the invasion of the country by Vladimir Putin’s Russia arrive (Cf DDM of April 1, 2022 ). A drop that would have broken the camel’s back after a certain lack of insight also put on the table concerning Africa and more specifically the Sahelo-Saharan strip… and in particular the two coups that took place in Mali, led by a junta whose main actors had notably passed through Moscow for their military training.
Regarding the DRM, General de Montgros has not arrived in unknown territory since previously when he took command in Toulouse, in July 2019, he had been head of the intelligence office of the Center for Planning and Conduct of Operations before becoming an adviser operations of the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly. And as for Eastern Europe… “The second important axis in the context of a world that is currently very unstable and with multiple risks will be the preparation for high-intensity combat against modern and powerfully equipped armies. the asymmetrical conflicts of the last decades must not make us forget that we must be able to cope with any other efficiency, in particular “harder” operations, he anticipated in La Dépêche, in September 2019, as to his priorities for the Brigade during its two years in Toulouse.
As for the Russian methods from Europe to Africa? He will also have had plenty of time to observe them closely, last year, since he would assume command of the European Union military mission in Bangui until the end of 2021 where… “due to the control exercised by the mercenaries of the Wagner company on the Central African Armed Forces (FACA), the European Union, concerned about respect for international humanitarian law, has decided to temporarily suspend training actions,” he explained to AFP last December. , in view of the acts committed by the Russians and their attempts to recruit Central African soldiers trained by the EU. Wagner, also present from Ukraine to Mali via Syria and Libya.