This was a long-standing request from many military personnel who saw the granting of honorary ranks to citizen reservists as a source of confusion.
From now on, members of the citizen reserve will no longer be
“lieutenant”
here ,
“colonel”
there .
General Thierry Burkhard, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, announced in a letter dated January 25
“to put an end to the awarding of honorary ranks to citizen defense and security reservists”
which
“induce confusion between the different types of reserves, even with active military personnel, and create misunderstandings detrimental to the coherence of the whole
.
Pending a future regulatory reform of this status, these volunteers approved by the Ministry of the Armed Forces but not having military status will simply be called
“citizen reserve officer”
.
In the future, they will be able to
“wear a distinctive badge of membership in the citizen reserve and, where applicable, a marker relating to their seniority in the citizen reserve”
, specifies the CEMA.
Citizen reserve and operational reserve
The citizen reserve, which exists in the three armies (Land, Navy, Air) as well as in the national gendarmerie, should not be confused with the operational reserve.
“The primary vocation of citizen reservists is to strengthen the link”
between the army and the nation, we can read on the website of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which describes these
“volunteer collaborators of the public defense service”
as
“ambassadors »
responsible for
“promoting the spirit of defense within civil society”
.
They no longer wear the uniform, which existed in particular in the National Navy, but a civilian outfit with wearing the badge of the citizen reserve, General Burkhard already recalled in a 2021 note.
Operational reservists, for their part, sign an engagement contract of one to five years, have a rank (which is not only honorary), wear the uniform, receive remuneration and have the objective of "
bringing a temporary reinforcement of the armed forces, for the protection of France or as part of operations carried out abroad
.