Colonel Twitter
“To understand what the war will represent for Russian society, one must imagine, in a commitment that is difficult to justify for it, a soldier’s coffin passing over the Alexandre-III bridge in Paris, every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. and every day. » With a certain sense of image, military historian and former naval troop colonel Michel Goya, 60, has established himself on Twitter (56,000 subscribers) as an essential expert on the war in Ukraine. He publishes daily threads in the form of staff reports, illustrated by maps and supported by technical details. He has just been recruited as a consultant by BFM-TV.
An obstacle course
Son of a Spanish emigrant who died a month after his birth and of a textile worker, Michel Goya did not make Saint-Cyr. He entered the army as a non-commissioned officer, before rising through the ranks to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Passionate about rugby, father of a family and bon vivant, he took part in major overseas operations in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and the Central African Republic in the 1990s, before returning to university in the following decade. A graduate of the Ecole de guerre and doctor of history, in 2007 he was appointed adviser to the Chief of the Defense Staff on questions of doctrine. Since 2011, his analyzes of conflicts have been published on his blog, “The Voice of the Sword”. He works “alone, with the Internet and data available in open sources, in particular from American sites”he said.
scholar soldier
” It’s the best “, according to Jean-Dominique Merchet, a journalist specializing in defense issues. Endowed with an enormous historical culture, a specialist in modern warfare, military innovation and behavior in combat, Michel Goya has published numerous works. His thesis on the war of 14-18, Flesh and Steel, published in 2004 by Tallandier, is now a reference. Much in demand since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, this meticulous man showed himself – something rare among media experts – able to recognize that he had overvalued the Russian army. On Twitter, he also theorized the need for France to one day have a “projectable guerrilla capability”.
sniper
Logically, he should have retired with the rank of general, but Michel Goya is not a “disciplined student” and the army does not like strong heads. So go for ex-colonel/consultant. Already in 2007, Michel Goya denounced in an article the cost of armaments and predicted the end of wars dominated by Western high technology, tackling military aviation in passing. Dassault Aviation did not appreciate it, and let it be known.
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