Stéphane Abrial

Stéphane Abrial ( born September 7, 1954 in Condom -en- Armagnac, Gers ) is a Général d' armée Aérienne the French Air Force and was from September 2009 to September 2012, the fourth Supreme Allied Commander of NATO transformation. He participated in the October 12, 2012 in his resignation. His successor is Jean -Paul Paloméros.

Military career

Abrial graduated first in 1973, the Academy of the French Air Force and attended from the following year, the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Between 1977 and 1991 he served as a fighter pilot. He served from 1981 to 1984 in a federation of the German Air Force and in 1988 at the Hellenic Air Force.

In 1990 and 1991 he took on the operations Desert Shield / Storm as commander of the 5th French combat squadron participated in the liberation of Kuwait. Back in France, he held a staff position with the Air Force. In 1991 he graduated from the U.S. Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama. In addition, he has a degree from the French Institute for Advanced Studies of National Defence ( IHEDN ) in Paris.

From 1996 to 1999 he served in the NATO headquarters in Brussels at the International Military Staff. Between 2006 and 2009 he was Chief of Staff of the French Air Force.

With his appointment as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in September 2009, for the first time in NATO's history a non-American to a key item within the United States and the NATO command structure.

Abrial is married to a German mother and a father of two children.

Awards (selection)

Condom (Gers) United States Air Force Academy Montgomery (Alabama) James Mattis Integrated Authority File
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