The Commander of the Army, Nicolas Barthe, is in charge of recruitment for the Alpes-Maritimes. He was the guest at quarter past eight.
How many young people do you recruit?
“We have an average of between fifteen and twenty young people a month. Over the year, that’s 200 young people between 17 and 30 years old. 32 years for the oldest, for high graduates who have the possibility of serving France through their specialties and their diplomas.
Are there more and more young people who want to get involved?
“The number of commitments is linked to political decisions. At the moment, we recruit 16,000 young people a year. We started at almost 15,000 a few years ago. Today, it’s 16,000. Not only do we manage to reach 16,000, but the objective is also a selection rate. That is to say that, over the years, the interest is to publicize our job offers so that interested young people can come. Sometimes it is even the young people who come to inquire and we explain to them that it does not correspond to their expectations, their aspirations. In the Alpes-Maritimes, we manage to have on average over ten years, every week between ten and 20 young people, it’s huge.
How come we are more involved in Nice than elsewhere?
“The figures are already linked to the population of the Alpes-Maritimes. It exceeds one million inhabitants. Youth and diplomas also come into play. We have many schools on the Côte d’Azur. We can offer job offers to those without diplomas or to young graduates, but also officer positions for bac plus three, bac plus five.
Was the attack also part of the reasons that led to more involvement here than elsewhere?
_”_The July 14 attack or the attack on the basilica had real consequences on the notion of service and commitment. Many have come to see us to ask us questions about the reserve, to ask us about active job offers. To have a contract, there was indeed a phenomenon of wanting to feel useful for the citizens.
What is the profile of the people you recruit?
“Our goal is to have people. _If they are already trained, so much the better. Otherwise we also train them_. Someone who is passionate about mechanics but does not have a mechanical degree, he can come and see us. He goes to the site sengage.fr We are also looking for staff in IT, social networks or any digital systems.”
There is also the cyber soldier?
“The warfare that was known in the previous century was known for the land, air and sea side. Today we have cyber warfare, so we need to recruit our young talents who will be able to defend France in this area. They are computer enthusiasts. We will offer officer positions but for everyone else we offer them to get to officer positions as they go through life.”
Commander Nicolas Barthe wrote a book “Engaged” at Grasset editions