A few days ago, Captain Mérieux and his troops provided an external security mission in front of the courthouse in Paris, as part of the trial of the 2015 attacks against Charlie Hebdo. In a few days, a change of register and of scenery: he and 71 soldiers from his unit (out of the 111 in the squadron) will fly to Guyana, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Objective: fight against illegal gold panning.
In short, two destinations and two completely different missions. “It is the perfect illustration of what a mobile gendarme has to experience,” comments Captain Christophe Mérieux, commanding the Sarreguemines unit.
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An impressive career
This is the seventh time that Captain Mérieux will join Guyana for a security mission. An impressive figure that suggests a rich career. The main interested party confirms. “I visited all the overseas territories and departments, except Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon […]. I chose the mobile gendarmerie for that: the fact of being permanently on the roads, for different missions, with a permanent questioning, the absence of routine… ”
There is no mission more important than another, but those related to the fight against terrorism are specific
Captain Christophe Mérieux
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Married, father of two, Christophe Mérieux recognizes that the richness of his career and his longevity in the profession are closely linked to a serene, balanced family life… and “a wonderful wife”, he underlines. It is necessary that when we know that on average, a mobile policeman can spend more than seven months per year on mission away from home.
“There is no mission more important than another, but those linked to the fight against terrorism are particular. “
It was during his military service in 1988 that a “click” occurred. Joining the mobile police is becoming an obsession and Christophe Mérieux is giving himself the means to achieve it. After the school for non-commissioned officers in Montluçon (Allier), our young gendarme was assigned to the PSIG in Tarbes until 1989 and branched off in 1990 into the mobile gendarmerie at the Revigny-sur-Ornain squadron. It was the start of a long period in the Meuse which then led him, from 2003 to 2012, to Verdun.
He then joined the Moselle as commander of the intervention platoon, first in Thionville (2012-2016) then in Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold (2016-2020). Until April 16, therefore, the date of his assignment to Sarreguemines.
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