The Blue Squadron – Lebanon–Chad 1977–1979

The author speaks of training, command and combat, but this account is above all a story of men — and more besides.
Dominique Delort notably commanded a Battalion at the ESM de Saint-Cyr, the 5th RIAOM in Djibouti, Operation Noroit in Rwanda, the Joint Operational Centre (COIA) in Paris, the French Forces in the Antilles, then the North-West Land Region. He served as President of the Saint-Cyrienne and of the Comité National d'Entente from 2008 to 2017.
This book allows the reader, through the political and tactical contextual information that many of us were unaware of, to place the actions in their proper setting and give them depth and seriousness.
It is also a testimony that remains as relevant as ever, of the way a captain takes on board and prepares a complex mission. The rapid cohesion of scattered elements, training adapted to the military context in a very short time by seizing every opportunity. Everything is founded on trust — but trust must be built and maintained.
I regard this book as a welcome therapy for many of our comrades who are going through, or have gone through, a difficult period. It stirs a great deal of emotion.
It will join the many writings and accounts of wars and combat by our predecessors, but it will occupy a very particular place — for all of us who took part in these various actions, but also, I believe, for other, younger readers.
You speak more of the men than of the acts of war, which are certainly recounted but remain vehicles of human adventure rather than the heart of the matter.
General Jacques Descamps.