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French General Stephane Abrial appointed by Nato

Friday, 11 September 2009

French General Stephane Abrial appointed by Nato

French air force General Stephane Abrial has been appointed to assume a leading command post in Nato. This will make him the first non-American serviceman to have such a position.

55-year-old Gen Abrial was made head of Allied Command Transformation (ACT), a new post that was created back in 2002, at a ceremony that took place on an American aircraft carrier stationed at Norfolk, Virginia.

France only joined Nato's command structure again in April this year but now Gen Abrial will be monitoring Nato military reforms at the Norfolk naval base he will be in charge of.

The French general is taking over as a replacement for US Marine Corps Gen James Mattis, and is now going to be one of Nato's two supreme allied commanders.

France is one of the main contributors to Nato.

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