1. Pierre Vandier served as the Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 September 2020 to 31 August 2023, after having been head of the military cabinet of the French Minister of the Armed Forces from 1 September 2018 to 31 August 2020, and commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle from 2013 to 2015.
Pierre Vandier's great-grandfather, Benjamin Vandier, was a naval officer, member of parliament and finally senator for Vendee.
Pierre Vandier's father was a general officer in the supply corps of the French Navy.
In 1987, Pierre Vandier was awarded first place in the competitive exam for entry into the French Naval Academy, and he graduated in first place in 1989.
Pierre Vandier completed his application training onboard helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc during the first Gulf War.
Pierre Vandier carried out several combat missions in Bosnia and in Kosovo.
Pierre Vandier completed the military testing of this new carrier-based fighter jet to prepare for its commissioning and carried out several missions in Afghanistan during Mission Agapanthe in 2004.
Pierre Vandier was responsible for the Rafale programme and the NH90 and Tiger helicopter programmes in particular.
Pierre Vandier was head of the crisis unit for Operation Serval in Mali from January to July 2013.
Pierre Vandier was deployed to the Indian Ocean twice, in the winter of 2013 to carry out Mission Bois-Belleau, and in the spring of 2015 for Mission Arromanches, during which he took part in Operation Chammal in Iraq.
Pierre Vandier was then appointed deputy commander of the maritime district of the Mediterranean and commander of the Toulon defence base.
Pierre Vandier is an auditor of the 65th session of the Centre for Advanced Military Studies and of the 68th session of the Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defence.
Pierre Vandier was appointed Chief of the Naval Staff during the Council of Ministers of 22 July 2022, starting the following 12 September.
In 2021, Admiral Vandier made the following observation: since the publication of the Mercator plan in 2018, geopolitical tensions have increased.
In June 2021, Admiral Pierre Vandier took over the presidency of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, during a symposium in Reunion.