By Ann Roosevelt
NATO yesterday announced French Gen. St�phane Abrial will become Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (NATO ACT), taking over from U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, who also serves as the commanding general of U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM).
NATO ACT works to improve the forces and capabilities of the expanded alliance as it faces new post-Cold War challenges and out-of-area operations.
Abrial, chief of staff of the French Air Force since 2006, takes up his new duties on Sept. 9 at a change of command ceremony to be held aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., according to a release from NATO ACT.
The venue for the change of command is appropriate, since U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe serving from April 1951 until May 1952. Supreme Allied Commander Transformation is the second of only two strategic commands.
Abrial graduated from the French Air Force academy–Ecole de l’Air–in 1973, and in 1974 from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He also attended the U.S. Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Ala., in 1991, according to his official biography. Prior to his position as French air force Chief of Staff, Abrial had served in positions at NATO headquarters and led the French prime minister’s military staff,
In early April, France returned to full NATO membership, including rejoining the alliance’s integrated military command, after leaving the decision-making apparatus in the mid- 1960s.
Mattis was released “with great regret” at the request of the United States and the alliance expressed “lasting gratitude for his distinguished service.”
When Mattis leaves command of NATO ACT, he will retain his role as JFCOM Commander.