30 minutes with Général Jean-Paul Paloméros
Jean-Paul Paloméros entered the French Air Force Academy in 1973 (“Captain Marchal” class) and qualified as a fighter pilot in 1976. Throughout his career, he acquired a great deal of experience both as an operational commander and as a fighter pilot. He flew 82 combat missions and more than 3,500 flying hours, mostly on Mirage F1 C and Mirage 2000.
He graduated from the Royal Air Force Staff College in Bracknell, UK in 1993, and is the recipient of the Curtis Award from the Chief of the Air Staff, RAF.
He commanded 2/12 ‘Picardie’ Fighter Squadron at Cambrai, including the operational deployment ‘Épervier’ to Chad in 1987. He took command of the 30th Fighter Wing in Reims in 1990 before commanding 120 Cazaux Air Base from 1996 to 1998.
At the same time, he perfected his experience of multinational operations by being deployed to Vicenza, Italy, in 1993 as deputy to the general commanding the French elements participating in Operation “Crécerelle”, the French component of Operation “Deny Flight” in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was also deployed to Kiseljak, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in 1995 as Head of the Air Office and Air Deputy to the UNPROFOR Commander.