Thierry Burkhard

Thierry Marcel Ernest Burkhard (; born 30 July 1964) is a French Army general who served as Chief of the Defence Staff from 22 July 2021 to 1 September 2025. Prior to his appointment to the top post, Burkhard served as Chief of Staff of the French Army from 2019 to 2021 and Inspector of the French Army from 2018 to 2019.

As an officer, Burkhard was deployed overseas in a variety of missions. 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 life and education A native of Delle, Territoire de Belfort, Burkhard enrolled at Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1985 and completed infantry courses at the École de l'infanterie from 1988 to 1989. Burkhard also completed the Advanced Staff Course at École supérieure de guerre in 2000.

Military career After a year of post-academy training, Burkhard graduated as infantry and was posted for continual service in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment in Corsica. He served the regiment from 1989 to 1996, where he was first served in the operations command in overseas missions such as in Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991, where he was part of the units deployed for Opération Daguet and was later deployed to Bosnia during the Yugoslavia Crisis on 1992 to 1993 as part of the United Nations Protection Force during the Bosnian War. In 1996, Burkhard was appointed a member of the Joint Staff at the Centre for Planning and Execution of Operations (CPCO) in Paris. Burkhard later served as an operations officer in the 4th Foreign Regiment. He was deployed on missions in Gabon and Chad.

Burkhard served as the head of the operations division at the Armed Forces based in French Guiana from 2002 to 2004, and later served under Joint Staff as deputy to the J3 EUROPE/CPCO. Burkhard would later be involved on Opération Licorne in 2006 during the civil war in Ivory Coast, before serving as a deputy under Admiral Christophe Prazuck in 2007. Burkhard served as a deputy communications adviser to the Chief of the Defence Staff from 2007 to 2008, and was later deployed to Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Burkhard would serve as the commander of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion (13e DBLE) in Djibouti from 2008 until 2010, at which date he joined the Information and Public Relations Service of the Armed Forces, being named as the communications adviser to the Chief of the Defence Staff, a position he held until 2013.

In 2013, he became the military adviser to the National Intelligence Coordinator at the presidency. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, General Burkhard supported the initiatives made by President Emmanuel Macron to deliver weapons, vehicles, and supplies to Ukraine. In March 2024, amidst the plans to the deployment of troops to Ukraine, Burkhard supported the proposal made by President Macron and echoed his words on the possibility of further involvement in Ukraine, which includes manning weapon systems, training Ukrainian troops, initiate cyber attacks on Russian positions and demining operations. On 23 July 2025, General Fabien Mandon was appointed to succeed him.

Dates of promotion

Honours and decorations

National honours

Foreign honours On 21 September 2023, in Virginia, General Burkhard was presented with the insignia of Commander of the Legion of Merit by General Mark Milley.

Badges

Personal life Burkhard came from a family of Protestants. He is married and has three children.