This is one of the subjects that has worried the armies the most for many months, beyond all the other capability and operational issues caused by the war in Ukraine: the increasingly early disenchantment of French soldiers with the military institution. Often mentioned in words, the subject is, for the first time, the subject of a complete report from the High Committee for the Evaluation of the Military Condition (HCECM), which was discreetly made public on Friday September 15.
While the increasing evaporation of soldiers recruited by the armies was until now mainly a problem identified for the ranks within the army, the report of the HCECM, an independent body whose members are appointed by the president of the Republic, chose to focus on the situation of officers. And the outlook is worrying, including for senior officers, according to the two hundred and twenty pages of the report.
According to the data that the HCECM managed to aggregate, in particular by studying the itinerary of the promotions of students recruited by the major military schools – Saint-Cyr for the army, the Naval Academy for the navy, and the Air and Space School for the Air and Space Force –, “a slow but constant erosion” vocations has been at work among officers for around ten years. Only gendarmerie officers have so far escaped this observation, the document underlines.
“Head” of the armies
An erosion which affects young officers in a new way. Until now, the peak of departures took place between twelve and sixteen years of service, i.e. at the dawn of the second part of their career. However, some 25% of students from the Saint-Cyr class of 1992 left the institution five years after leaving school, notes the HCECM. A similar trend is observed in the promotions of the Air School and the Naval School, but at a “lower level”.
Some grades are more affected than others. The departures of captains increased by some 44% between 2017 and 2022, while for commanders it reached 62%. An increase also exists among colonels, but it is not quantified. Generally speaking, armies are facing an increase in departures before the age of 40: 11% in 2022, or +3% compared to 2020.
Even if officers represent only 13% of the total number of armed forces, or around 40,000 soldiers, they are ” the head ” of these, those who are responsible for commanding. And this slow evaporation could go as far as “weaken the human resources model”, in particular of the army, estimates the HCECM. If nothing is done, the departure rate of army officers with between ten and fifteen years of service could reach 30% in the coming years: unsustainable, reports the HCECM.
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