Édouard Guillaud

Édouard Guillaud
Admiral Édouard Guillaud, France 24th Chief of the Defence Staff
Born	(1953-07-10) 10 July 1953 (age 63)
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	French Navy
Years of service	1973 – 2014
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Chief of the Defence Staff Chief of the Military Staff of the President of the Republic Corvette captain on the French nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle Ship-of-the-Line Captain on the French aircraft carrier Georges Clemenceau Ship-of-the-line captain of the BATRAL Dumont d'Urville
Battles/wars	Lebanese Civil War Gulf War 2011 Libyan civil war Northern Mali conflict
Awards	Grand Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour Officer of the National Order of Merit Officer of the Order of Maritime Merit

Admiral Édouard Guillaud (born 10 July 1953) is a French Navy officer and admiral. He devoted a significant part of his career to the design of the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier, and eventually captained her. He served as Chief of the Defence Staff from 25 February 2010 to 2014.

Édouard Guillaud was born to the family of Jean-Louis Guillaud, former president of Agence France-Presse and TF1.

He studied at the lycée Hector Berlioz in Vincennes and at the Ecole Sainte Geneviève in Versailles. He joined the École navale in 1973.

Upon graduation, in 1978, he served on the escort Paimpolaise, monitoring the nuclear trials in Mururoa, and on the SNLE L' Indomptable and on Le Redoutable. In 1979 Guillaud took command of the minesweeper Lobelia, for one year. The next year, he studied for a specialisation in gunnery and missiles.

In the early 1980s, Guillaud was sent in exchange in the United States. He then served on the aviso Amyot d'Inville and the T 47-class destroyers Du Chayla and Kersaint, cruising off Iran and Lebanon in 1983.

From 1984 to 1987, he worked on the nuclear aircraft carrier programme, particularly on expert systems in the computer environment of the ship. He was promoted to capitaine de corvette in 1985.