Military of France

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Military of France
Military manpower
Military age 17 years of age with consent for voluntary military service (2001)
Availability males age 15–49: 13,676,509 (2005 est.)
Fit for military service males age 15–49: 11,262,661 (2005 est.)
Reaching military age annually males: 389,204 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures
Amount 45,238 million (45,238 million $) (2003)
Percent of GDP 2.6% (2003)

Contents

Organisation

The titular head of the French armed forces is the President of the Republic, in his role as Chef des Armées — the President is thus Commander-in-Chief of French Forces. However, the Constitution puts civil and military government forces at the disposal of the gouvernement (the executive cabinet of ministers, whom are not necessarily of the same political side as the president). The Minister of Defence (as of 2005, Michèle Alliot-Marie) oversees the military's funding, procurement and operations.

The French armed forces are divided into four branches:

Every year on Bastille Day, a large military parade is staged before the President of the Republic (here, soldiers preparing themselves).
Enlarge
Every year on Bastille Day, a large military parade is staged before the President of the Republic (here, soldiers preparing themselves).


They also include the following services:

Manpower

The total number of military personnel is approximately 300,000. However, 100,000 of these are in the Gendarmerie, and thus a vast majority of these 100,000 are used in everyday law enforcement operation inside France and are not fit for external operations. Elements of the Gendarmerie are however present in all French external operations, providing troops specialised in order enforcement and military police.

Previously, France relied a great deal on conscription to provide manpower to its armies, with only a minority of career soldiers. Following from the Algerian War of Independence, the use of non-volunteer draftees in foreign operations was ended; if their unit is called for duty in war zones, draftees are now offered the choice between requiring a mutation in another unit or joining the mission. In 1996, President Jacques Chirac's government announced the end of conscription; in 2001, conscription was ended. However, young people must still register for possible conscription should the events call for it, with the change that now females must register as well.

International stance

French military doctrine is based on the concepts of national independence, nuclear deterrence (see Force de frappe), and military sufficiency. France is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and has worked actively with Allies to adapt NATO--internally and externally--to the post-Cold War environment. In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATO's military wing, including the Military Committee (the French withdrew from NATO's military bodies in 1966 while remaining full participants in the alliance's political councils). France remains a firm supporter of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other efforts at cooperation. Paris hosted the May 1997 NATO-Russia Summit for the signing of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security.

Outside of NATO, France has actively and heavily participated in both coalition and unilateral peacekeeping efforts in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, often taking the lead in these operations. France has undertaken a major restructuring to develop a professional military which will be smaller, more rapidly deployable and better tailored for operations outside of mainland France. Key elements of the restructuring include reducing personnel, bases, and headquarters and rationalising equipment and the armament industry. French active-duty military at the beginning numbers approximately 270,000 (World Almanac 2004), of which nearly 35,000 were assigned outside of metropolitan France.

Since the end of the Cold War, France has placed a high priority on arms control and non-proliferation. It acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1992 and supported its indefinite extension in 1995. After conducting a controversial final series of six nuclear tests on Mururoa in the South Pacific, the French signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996. France has implemented a moratorium on the production, export, and use of anti-personnel landmines and supports negotiations leading toward a universal ban. The French are key players in the adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe to the new strategic environment.

France is an active participant in the major supplier regimes designed to restrict transfer of technologies that could lead to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Australia Group (for chemical and biological weapons), and the Missile Technology Control Regime. France has signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.

See also: France and weapons of mass destruction

Recent operations

France provides, along with the United States and other countries, troops for the force stationed in Haiti, sanctioned by the United Nations, following the 2004 Haiti rebellion.

France has sent troops, especially special forces, into Afghanistan to help the United States and NATO forces fight the remains of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

A force of a few thousand French soldiers, under a mandate from the UN (Opération Licorne), are stationned in the Ivory Coast on a peacekeeping mission. These troops were initially sent under the terms of a mutual protection pact between France and the Ivory Coast, but the mission has since evolved into the current UN peacekeeping operation.

Equipment

See also

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External links


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