#french-military

#french-military

A French soldier, Alexandre Lanckbeen, died after being accidentally shot in the head during a drunken evening at a barracks near Paris. The incident occurred on 14 February at the Percy Military Training Hospital in Clamart, where alcohol consumption is prohibited. Soldiers had obtained alcohol and were drinking when a loaded handgun was discharged during a reaction game, striking Lanckbeen. Lanckbeen was taken to hospital but subsequently died from his wounds.

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday unveiled a new program meant to bolster France's armed forces by training thousands of volunteers aged 18 and 19 starting next year, part of a broader response to concerns over Russia's threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine. The young volunteers will serve in uniform for 10 months in France's mainland and oversea territories only, not in military operations abroad, Macron said in a speech at the Varces military base, which is located in the French Alps.