JUSTICE: An unprecedented military ceremony for the clerks of the Arnaud Beltrame promotion
This Thursday, May 19, 276 trainee clerks participated in the baptism of their promotion during a parade at the Dijon Gendarmerie School. They chose to sponsor Colonel Arnaud Beltrame who gave his life during a terrorist attack in Trèbes in 2018.
The emotion was palpable this Thursday, May 19, 2022 on the place d’armes of the Dijon Gendarmerie School – located on the former BA102 in Longvic – both on the side of the military and civilians. The B2020C03 promotion of the National School of Transplantation was solemnly baptized with the name of Colonel Arnaud Beltrame during an unprecedented ceremony of taking up arms.
The official moment covered a triple first: first time that the trainee clerks of the promotion met since even their initial swearing-in was carried out remotely during the health crisis, first time that the Dijon Gendarmerie School took a arms with civilians and the first time that the National School of Registry organized a ceremony with the National Gendarmerie.
A soldier assassinated in service for godfather
Soon to be tenured, the trainee clerks are currently in the last phase of their training by being posted in courts throughout France. Malaury Carré, Adrien Ramirez and Inès Vogel were appointed delegates during a dematerialized election.
The delegates also had their colleagues vote on the name of the sponsor of the promotion. Colonel Arnaud Beltrame was chosen at the end of this “democratic” process, as the delegates insisted on pointing out.
Then the lieutenant-colonel of the gendarmerie, Arnaud Beltrame intervened during a terrorist attack which occurred on March 23, 2018 in a Super U store in Trèbes (Aude). Arnaud Beltrame took the place of the last hostage and then tried to disarm the aggressor claiming to be from the jihadist group Islamic State.
Died of wounds received during this fight, he was posthumously promoted to the rank of colonel. A national tribute was paid on March 28 and a religious funeral took place on March 29, 2018.
276 stoic trainee clerks
This Thursday in Longvic, the gendarmes are under the orders of Colonel Joël Armand as the ceremony begins by General Pascal Hurtault, commander of the Dijon Gendarmerie School.
Are present in particular General Édouard Hubscher, commander of the gendarmerie region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Véronique Court, director of the National School of Clerks, and Roland De Lesquen, deputy director of the legal services of the Chancellery.
In front of them, 276 trainee clerks who wait, stoic under a blazing sun. Around them, the sixth company whose student gendarmes are completing their training, the seventh company of student deputy gendarmes and the executives of the Dijon Gendarmerie School.
“Colonel Arnaud Beltrame’s commitment embodies the defense of the homeland”
After the tribute to the flag, the three class delegates come forward and discover the portrait of Colonel Arnaud Beltrame. “There is no happiness without freedom, nor freedom without courage”, declares Mallaury Carré, recalling the act of bravery of the policeman.
“Colonel Arnaud Beltrame’s commitment to defend freedom, the value of our Republic, embodies the defense of the fatherland as reflected in the motto of the gendarmerie: ‘honor and fatherland'”, continues the future clerk.
“The self-sacrifice he has demonstrated throughout his career must be an example for all and show us the way to follow in the defense of the fatherland”, declares Inès Vogel in turn.
“As clerks of the judicial services, if we swear to fulfill our duties well and loyally, this oath obligates us in an underlying way to protect the freedom of the litigants by guaranteeing the respect of the procedure, protector of freedoms”, she recalls.
“The body of clerks, to which we belong, making us the guardians of the procedure, has for but the protection of freedom”, insists Adrien Ramirez who evokes the “unbreakable link” between the gendarmerie and the clerks.
“For his courage, for his commitment to freedom, for his total self-sacrifice, we have chosen Colonel Arnaud Beltrame as sponsor of our promotion,” he confirms.
The “republican melting pot” of internal security forces and judicial services
General Pascal Hurtault welcomes the fact that many schools and streets now bear the name of Arnaud Beltrame.
For his part, Roland De Lesquen returns to the notion of commitment, “commitment to the service of values and causes which is successful for us and to which we must subscribe without ambiguity within a democratic society: respect for the law and the rule of law, the rejection of violence and the protection of the most vulnerable”. He recalls that the internal security forces and the judicial services have pursued “the same republican objective of justice”.
At a time when the reform of the senior civil service is gradually being applied, causing still muted discontent, the representative of the Ministry of Justice sees in this unprecedented ceremony an “extremely positive and ambitious message”.
At the registry staff could see their career designated in different bodies of the public service: “gendarmes, clerks, magistrates, civil servants, we all come from the same academic backgrounds and have been trained in the same republican crucible”.
At the start of Emmanuel Macron’s second term, Roland De Lesquen continues the ministry’s message: “the reinforcement of the staff of the judicial institution was imposed as a priority by the President of the Republic; the national school of transplants will have to play its part in the recruitment and training of the 8,500 personnel expected in the years to come”.
“Building links between jurisdictions”
A time of conviviality organized by the School of Clerks finally extends the ceremony for the future clerks who will be established next June.
“We used social networks a lot during confinement to join and get to know each other”, explains Inès Vogel, “given that we have the possibility of spending a few hours together, the advantage is that we materialize this knowledge allows us to forge links and talk to each other between jurisdictions, which promotes communication between services”.
Jean-Christophe Tardivon