General Elrick James Martial Irastorza
portant réintégration dans les cadres et admission dans la 2e section, admission dans la 2e section par anticipation et sur demande, élévation aux rang et appellation de général d'armée, promotion et nomination dans la 1re et la 2e section, nomination au titre du congé du personnel navigant et affectation d'officiers généraux (born 29 September 1950 in Maillezais) is a French general, formerly

Chief of Staff of the French Army The Chief of the Army Staff (french: Chef d'état-major de l'armée de terre, CEMAT) is the military head of the French Army. The chief directs the army staff and acts as the principal advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff on subjects concern ...

. He has served a career in marine paratrooper infantry, notably in oversea operations.

Biography

After studying at military preparatory high schools in Autun and Aix between 1961 and 1970, Irastorza joined the

École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

in September 1970. He graduated in 1972, obtaining the rank of lieutenant and opting for service in the Troupes de marine.Biographie du général d’armée Elrick IRASTORZA, chef d’état-major de l’armée de Terre
Ministry of Defence

Junior officer

From 1973, Irastorza commanded a combat section of the

3rd Marine Infantry Regiment The 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 3e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 3e RIMa) is a unit of the French Army in the French Forces. The 3e RIMa is one of the oldest of the troupes de marine. This regiment is one of the "Quatre Grands" of ...

. Later, he joined the paratroopers by transferring to the

2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment The 2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 2e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, 2e RPIMa) is an airborne regiment of the French Army created in 1947. The regiment is heir to the traditions of the 2nd Colonial Comman ...

, with the same rank. In 1979, he took part in

Opération Tacaud Opération Tacaud was a French military operation in Chad, that took place between 20 February 1978 and May 1980. Its aim was to support the Chadian army in protecting N'Djamena from the FROLINAT. History Opération Tacaud was triggered by the ...

, in

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

. In 1980, promoted to captain, Irastorza was given command of a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment. From 1982, he taught at the instruction centre for military preparation in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, until 1985 when he joined the general staff of the 3rd military region in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

as officer for logistics.

Senior officer and higher studies

Irastorza then completed his studies and oriented himself towards a high-ranking career by attending the

École d'application de l'infanterie École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, obtaining a Master of Advanced Studies in Defence and international relations in 1986 and attending the École supérieure de guerre the next year. In 1989, he obtained the degree that validates training in command and general staff duties.Section 1 : Organisation générale
, code de la Défense He then joined the RIMAP as chief of operations. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel, Irastorza assumed command of the

8e RPIMa The 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 8e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, (8e RPIMa) is an airborne regiment of the French Army. The 8e RPIMa was created on 28 February 1951 and the men wear the red beret. It is par ...

in 1991. The next year, he supervised the 1st French battalion of the UNTAC. From 1993 to 1996, Irastorza was desk officer and second in command at the complement officer of the general staff of the Army, in Paris. He then moved on to serve at the office of military personnel of the Army (DPMAT); from 2000, he was under-director of the DPMAT in charge of recruitment.

General officer

Irastorza was promoted to brigadier general on 1 October 2000. In 2002, Irastorza went to supervise the

. From 2004, he served as aid to the head of the chief of the ''Force d'action Terrestre''. From 15 June 2005 and June 2006, he commanded the Force Licorne in the Ivory Coast. Irastorza has served as

since 2 July 2008.Décret du 2 juillet 2008
portant affectation et élévation aux rang et appellation de général d'armée, élévation aux rang et appellation de général de corps d'armée, affectation et élévation aux rang et appellation de général de corps d'armée, promotion ou nomination dans la 1re et la 2e section et affectation d'officiers généraux He retired from the army on the 31 August 2011.

Decorations and medals

*Commander of the Legion of Honour *Commander of the Order of National Merit * Cross of military valour * Croix du Combattant * Overseas Medal * Medal of National Defence * Medal of National gratitude d'Afrique du Nord

Sources and references