MG Michel Delion
Director of the Center for Doctrine and Command Teaching (CDEC)
Born on September 20 th, 1963 in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
As a Saint-Cyr alumnus from the “General de Monsabert”
graduating class in 1982, he chose artillery and joined the
35th Airborne Artillery Regiment of Tarbes as a platoon leader on September 1st, 1986.
He commanded a battery in summer 1991 before assuming the regimental Jumpmaster position in 1993. He then returned to the Artillery School in 1995 as an instructor within the Platoon Commander Training Division.
From 1996 to 1998, he attended the 110th Staff College and the 5th School of Warfare graduating class in Paris before returning to the 35th Airborne Artillery Regiment in 1998 as Operations staff commander. He returned to Paris on August 1st, 2000 as a group instructor in the Staff College
(114th, 115th, 116th graduating classes), before being appointed Head of exercise planning at the Land
Forces Command (CFAT) to Lille in 2003.
Promoted to Colonel on July 1st, 2004, he assumed the command of the 35th Airborne Artillery Regiment on July 1st, 2005 and deployed in late 2006 in Kosovo (BATFRA13). From 2007 to 2008, he served under the aegis of the European Union as the Deputy Chief of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX Kosovo).
From 2008 to 2014, he served at the Joint Operations Planning and Command & Control Center. He served as commander of the European Area of Operations (J3), then planning manager (J5) for the Global Area of Operations and finally Army Operations Deputy Commander for 4 years. From 2014 to
2016, he served at the 11th Airborne Brigade in Toulouse as Deputy Commander.
Promoted to Brigadier General on July 1st, 2016, he was appointed Artillery School Commandant and Deputy Commandant of Draguignan Military Schools. On August 1st 2018, he was appointed the Deputy Director of the Center for Doctrine and Command Teaching before assuming its command as of July 22nd 2019.
On October 1st 2019, he is promoted Major General.
General Michel DELION has served in multiple areas of operations such as Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, Chad, the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, Sentinelle and participated in the national assessment of almost any recent operations. Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honor) and Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Mérite (Commander of The National Order of Merit), he has also been bestowed the Croix de guerre des théâtres d’opérations extérieurs (War cross for foreign operational theatres) as well as the Croix de la Valeur Militaire (Cross for Military Valor).
As a military history enthusiast, in 2014 he was awarded his PhD, with a thesis on “the history of military thinking”.