Missions, skills, career path…: who is Guillaume Lefebvre, the new squadron leader of the Lodève gendarmerie company?

Guillaume Lefebvre prend les rênes de la compagnie de Lodève. ML – Laurent Vermorel

Guillaume Lefebvre, 40, is the new squadron leader of the Lodève gendarmerie company. Interview…

With Commander Jordi Gaignaire leaving for Strasbourg after three years of good and loyal service, it is squadron leader Guillaume Lefebvre, 40, who succeeds him at the head of the Lodève gendarmerie company. Married and father of two children, this field man took up his duties at the beginning of September after a rich career within the national gendarmerie.

Being at the head of a departmental company is a first for you. What does that represent in your eyes? ?

It is in the logical continuation of the command course. It represents a new and beautiful challenge. Especially since the company's territory is vast with its 1,900 km2 and its 113 municipalities.

How many soldiers does that represent??

132 soldiers spread across five brigade communities and autonomous territorial brigades, a research brigade, a Psig (surveillance and intervention platoon) as well as the command group.

We also benefit from the establishment of two squadrons (12/6 and 13/6) of mobile gendarmerie which do not work in our sector but which, occasionally, lend a hand to the company through patrols. And that is very appreciable.

From gendarme to commander, an upward trajectory

Born in Blois in Loir-et-Cher, Guillaume Lefebvre began his studies with three years in a literary preparatory class at the military high school of Saint-Cyr-l’École (Yvelines) from 2003 to 2006. Then joined the gendarmerie non-commissioned officer school in Chateaulin (Finistère). In 2007, he was assigned to the mobile gendarmerie squadron of Narbonne (Aude), as a gendarme, where he remained until its dissolution in 2011.

Then he went to the specialized gendarmerie protection platoon (PSPG) in Dampierre-en-Burly (Loiret), at the heart of the French nuclear protection system, where he would pass many qualifications. During his three years, due to a university equivalence, he took the semi-direct competitive examination to join the National Gendarmerie Officers' School, which he passed first time in 2014.

He then joined the Melun school (Seine-et-Marne) until 2016, when he chose to return to the “maintaining order” and was assigned for four years to squadron 23/1 of the mobile gendarmerie in Rosny-sous-Bois (Île-de-France). As a lieutenant, he commanded the intervention platoon for four years. At the rank of captain, he was transferred to Perpignan, within squadron 14/6 of the mobile gendarmerie, as unit commander.

During these eight years on the move, he has never stopped going over hill and dale: on the ZADs in Bure (Meuse), the basins on the A69 between Toulouse and Castres, on missions to combat illegal gold mining in Guyana, the referendums in New Caledonia, the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, Operation Wuambushu in Mayotte…

An operational and field past, in short.

What objectives have been set for you??

“For the population, by the gendarme”, this is our new slogan that takes on its full meaning with our priority axes which are the fight against drugs, against burglaries, domestic violence and prohibited musical gatherings (rave parties) which pose security problems, in particular because they are held in remote and protected places.

Preventing disturbances so as not to have to repress them is also what we must intensify. The more, upstream, we insist on prevention, information and contact with elected officials, associations, traders, farmers, etc., the better it will be. With the population, we must maintain the link and push it ever further.

On the structural level, new developments are expected?

Yes, the Ganges mobile brigade will be created. It will be deployed in early 2025. It is part of the national plan to create new brigades and will be made up of four to six personnel. This will therefore increase the number of soldiers in the company to 136 or 138. This mobile brigade, as its name suggests, will be intended to travel throughout our constituency and play the proximity card.

I subscribe to read more