Pierre Schill

Post

Service

Pierre Schill was born on 10 September 1967 in Châlons-sur-Marne, in the Marne. The French Army biography places him in the Saint-Cyr class Lieutenant Tom Morel, from 1987 to 1990. He chose the marine infantry. After platoon-leader training at Montpellier he joined the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment at Vannes. As a lieutenant he took his platoon on Operation Epervier in Chad, Operation Oryx in Somalia, and to Sarajevo.

Promoted captain in 1994, he served in French Polynesia as deputy commander of the Pacific marine infantry regiment. In 1996 he took the 2nd company of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment at Le Mans, the company known as les boucs, and deployed to Albania and the Central African Republic. From 1999 to 2002 he returned to Saint-Cyr as the senior officer supervising the cadet classes De la France Combattante, Chef d'escadrons Raffali, and Bicentenaire de Saint-Cyr.

He passed the higher staff course, the 116th class, and the 11th class of the Joint Defence College, now the École de guerre, and graduated in 2004. That year he went back to the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment as chief of operations and training. During Operation Licorne in Côte d'Ivoire he was operations chief of combined-arms tactical group 2 at Man. From 2006 he worked in the plans, programmes, and evaluation division of the joint staff. For three years he helped prepare the chief of the defence staff for hearings in parliament. In 2008 his work fed the White Paper on defence and national security. He then worked on the military programming law for 2009 to 2014.

In 2009 he was selected to command the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment. In 2011, as its commanding officer, he deployed to Senegal for an allied amphibious exercise. He then attended the 61st session of the Centre for Higher Military Studies and the 64th session of the Institute for Higher National Defence Studies. From the summer of 2012 he was deputy head of the military staff of the President of the Republic, responsible for operations, military programming, and the defence budget.

Appointed brigadier general in 2017, he commanded the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade, whose headquarters is at Poitiers. In 2019 he became chief of the force-employment division of the joint staff. A decree of 7 July 2021 named him chief of staff of the Army from 22 July 2021 and, from that date, raised him to the rank and title of general of the army. He succeeded Thierry Burkhard, who became chief of the defence staff. The Army biography lists him as an officer of the Legion of Honour, a commander of the National Order of Merit, and a holder of the Croix de la valeur militaire with two citations.

He left the post on 26 July 2026. A decree of 24 June 2026 appointed Jacques Langlade de Montgros chief of staff of the Army from that day and raised him to the same rank. The handover was held at the military academy of Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan, with Catherine Vautrin, the minister of the armed forces, present. Schill is no longer chief of staff of the Army.

1. Saint-Cyr, class of Lieutenant Tom Morel, 1987-1990
2. 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, Vannes
3. Epervier, Chad; Oryx, Somalia; Sarajevo
4. 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment, Le Mans
5. Licorne, Cote d'Ivoire, 2004
6. Commander, 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, from 2009
7. 9th Marine Infantry Brigade, from 2017
8. Chief of Staff of the Army, 22 July 2021 - 26 July 2026