Colonel Benoît Villeminoz, 48, a GIGN veteran, was appointed the new commander of France's elite gendarmerie unit on November 1. He succeeds General de Division Ghislain Réty, who retired on October 15 after 34 years of service. An expert in crisis management and negotiations, Villeminoz brings extensive experience including major counter-terrorism operations.
The GIGN, France's elite gendarmerie unit, has a new commander in Colonel Benoît Villeminoz, appointed on Saturday, November 1, according to a unit communiqué. At 48, he leads the 1,000 women and men of the group, succeeding General de Division Ghislain Réty, who ended his career on October 15 after 34 years serving France, including 31 in the gendarmerie. Gendarmerie Director General Hubert Bonneau had promised the role would go to a GIGN veteran, a pledge fulfilled as Villeminoz served there from 2004 to 2011 as section chief in the Intervention Force, and from 2014 to 2018 as operational chief of staff.
A 2001 graduate of the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, Villeminoz began his career commanding a mobile gendarmerie platoon from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, on the show Des racines et des ailes, he explained: « Why join the GIGN? Because as a gendarme, you want to give your all. And the GIGN is one of the gendarmerie's showcases. » He added: « I am ready to sacrifice the ultimate, to sacrifice my life. »
During his first GIGN stint, he was deployed to Afghanistan and French Guiana, handling crises such as three prison hostage situations, interventions with deranged individuals, arrests for organized crime (drug trafficking, extortion, major banditry), and pursuits of two ETA members. He gained expertise in managing criminal and terrorist crises, as well as negotiation. In 2008, he led negotiations during the hijacking of the cruise ship Ponant by pirates off Somalia.
After a short stint as commander of the Montmorency departmental gendarmerie company (2012-2014), he returned to the GIGN to join the hunt for brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi after the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, and the Dammartin-en-Goële operation where they were cornered and killed. He then secured Euro 2016 and the Tour de France, adapting the unit to the terrorist context.
From 2018 to 2020, he served as mission officer at the DGGN's Operations and Employment Directorate, then headed the Rhône departmental gendarmerie grouping, managing the Covid-19 crisis and the 2023 riots following Nahel's death. Trained at the CHEM and IHEDN in 2023-2024, he was deployed to New Caledonia in 2024 for the insurrectional crisis. His official command takeover will occur before year's end.