French Army Lieutenant General Olivier de Bavinchove assumes Eurocorps command on July the 1st 2011, after serving for two years as Commander of the 1st Force Land Headquarters (EMF 1) in Besançon (France).

Previously, Lieutenant General de Bavinchove commanded the French component United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and was also appointed Chief of Staff (COS) UNIFIL between beginning of August 2008 and end of July 2009.
His operational theatre experience includes Bosnia-Herzegovina as chief J5 UNPROFOR in 1992/1993, Chad, Central Africa, New Caledonia and Lebanon.

Prior to his tour as COS UNIFIL, he commanded the recruitment department in the Army Human Resources Command, acting also as special representative of the Minister of Defence to implement the “equality plan”. Speech writer for the Joint Chief of Defence Staff (CHOD) between 2004 and 2006, he was also acting as deputy to the chief of the Military Strategic Studies Department in the Joint Defence Staff.

He commanded the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment at Tarbes (France) – reconnaissance regiment of the 11th Airborne Brigade stationed in Toulouse (France) – during which time he deployed his regiment as a Combined Arms Task Force to Chad.

As a captain he commanded the 1st Squadron / 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment. He served in a number of staff assignments: the army staff during the professionalization process, armoured and paratrooper battalions, division (2nd Armoured Division) and corps (Rapid Action Force – FAR) operations officer. In addition to the posts noted above, he held instructor leadership positions in the Armour School and the Joint Command Staff College.

Lieutenant General de Bavinchove graduated from the French Military Academy at Saint-Cyr in 1978. He graduated from the Armour Officer Basic and Advanced Course, the Paratrooper Advanced Course, the French Army Command and General Staff College, the Joint Staff College, the French War College (CHEM) and the Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN).
His awards include the French Legion of Honour (Degree of Officer), the National Order of Merit (Degree of Officer).

Lieutenant General de Bavinchove is married to Isabelle and they have two children, Louis- Marie and Margaret. His interests include old cottages in Brittany, riding fast motorbikes, hunting everywhere and sailing along the Atlantic Coast. Current