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Philippe Lavigne
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation at NATO/ACT
General Philippe Lavigne has been the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation since 2021. Having joined the French Air Force Academy in 1985, he qualified as a pilot in 1989 and flew the Mirage 2000 during operations in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq before assuming command of the 1/5 Fighter Squadron “Vendée” in 2001. He subsequently served within the Paris-based Joint Strategic Planning and Command Operations Centre (CPCO). After serving in the Planning Office of the French Air Force Staff, he was appointed Deputy Director at the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security in Paris in 2009. He served twice in high-level joint positions, first as the Information Director within the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces (2012-14) and as Director of the French Chief of Defence’s front office (2016-18). Between those two postings, he commanded the Kabul International Airport and supervised the transfer of military responsibility for the airport to the Afghan civilian authorities. In 2018, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force. General Lavigne was made a Commandeur in both the Légion d’honneur and the ordre national du Mérite and awarded the Croix de la Valeur Militaire.
Updated: April 19, 2024