Thierry Burkhard

Thierry Burkhard (born 30 July 1964) is a French Army general who has served as Chief of the Defence Staff since 22 July 2021. He previously served as Inspector of the French Army (2018–2019) and Chief of Staff of the French Army (2019–2021).

As an officer, Burkhard was deployed overseas a number of times. He served in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) and held command of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) in Djibouti.

Early career
A native of Delle, Territoire de Belfort, Burkhard enrolled at Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1985. After a year of post-academy training, he graduated as infantry and was posted for continual service in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment in Corsica. He served from 1989 to 1997.

He served in the operations command in Iraq, as operations officer in the 4th Foreign Regiment, and with the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Guiana. He also served in Gabon and Chad, during the Yugoslavia Crisis, and during the civil war in Côte d’Ivoire. He also served in Afghanistan on two occasions, while he was still the deputy Communications Director of the Joint Staff. He was later promoted to the command of the 13e DBLE in Djibouti.

Commands
Thierry Burkhard joined the Information and Public Relations Service of the Armed Forces in 2010. In 2013, he became the Joint Staff Communications Directorate Director, through which he was made the J3 of the French Joint Staff under National Intelligence as coordinator and adviser of military intelligence to the President in 2015 and the Inspector General of the Army. He was commander of the Operations Planning and Control Center. He was the Chief of Conduct in the Center for Planning and Conduct of Operations Paris before he rose to be in the commands. He later became the Chief of the French Army in July 2019.

National honours

 * Legion Honneur GO ribbon.svg Grand Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
 * National Order of Merit - Commander (France).png Commander of the National Order of Merit
 * Croix de la Valeur Militaire avec étoiles d'or et de bronze.svg Cross for Military Valour – Silver-Gilt Star
 * Croix de Guerre des Théâtres d'Opérations extérieures avec étoile de bronze.svg Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures – Bronze star
 * Croix du Combattant (1930 France) ribbon.svg Combatant's Cross
 * Medaille d'Outre-Mer (Coloniale) ribbon.svg Overseas Medal
 * Médaille de la Defense nationale Or avec étoile de bronze.svg National Defence Medal – Bronze star
 * Medaille commemorative Francaise ribbon.svg French commemorative medal

Foreign honours

 * EST Order of the Cross of the Eagle 2nd Class BAR.png Second Class of the Order of the Cross of the Eagle (Estonia)
 * Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) ribbon.svg Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) (KSA)
 * Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) ribbon.svg Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
 * NATO Medal ribbon (Article 5).svg NATO Medal (NATO)
 * ROM Order of the Star of Romania 1877 Comm BAR.svg Commander of the Order of the Star of Romania (Romania)
 * SEN Order of the Lion - Commander BAR.png Commander of the National Order of the Lion (Senegal)
 * ONZ Medal w Służbie Pokoju UNPROFOR BAR.svg UNPROFOR Medal (United Nations)
 * POL Złoty Medal Wojska Polskiego BAR.svg Gold Polish Army Medal (Poland)
 * ITA OMRI 2001 Com BAR.svg Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy, 2024)
 * AUS Order of Australia (military) BAR.svg Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (Australia) – 8 May 2024 (authorised 19 April 2024) – For distinguished service as the Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces.