It is one of the symbols of the “Resilience” operation, which brings the support of the armed forces to the prefects and the regional health agencies in the fight against Covid-19. In early April, at Air Base 123 in Orléans-Bricy (Loiret), the Air Force transformed one of the Airbus A400M transporting troops and equipment into medical aircraft for four seriously ill patients, with a crew reduced to a bare minimum and compartments in the hold. "This shows that this aircraft is very modular," notes Geneviève Darrieussecq, Secretary of State to the Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly, visiting the base on Wednesday June 3.
It was also from here that the Army conditioned and dispatched to Mulhouse and then to Mayotte a field hospital to receive the sick. In Polynesia, another A400M ensured the repatriation of French people stranded in New Zealand. Geneviève Darrieussecq made a point of underlining "the true solidarity" of the soldiers who took part in these operations of transfers and logistics.
The little-known role of military firefighters
Another player in this Resilience operation, the new army giant, the Hercule C130, even larger than the A400M. "It served us to repatriate to Paris medical teams who provided health transfers in the morning by TGV between Ile-de-France and Brittany, in order to save them time," explains Colonel Stanislas Michel, commander of BA 123.
Behind the media missions, the Secretary of State also praised the work behind the scenes, that of the military firefighters for example, responsible for disinfecting aircraft after each flight, often at night, in order to make the aircraft suitable for use the next day. morning. Or the delivery of 9,000 liters of hydroalcoholic gel insured to pharmacies and health establishments with the support of the 12th regiment of cuirassiers of Olivet (Loiret).
Currently, an Orleans A400M is still deployed in Fort-de-France (Martinique), where it provides freight missions for local authorities and for the Red Cross in all the Antilles and in Central America.
About 200 aviators, out of the 3,000 in BA 123, are participating in Operation Resilience.