On 15 March 2017, General André Lanata, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, and Mr. François d’Agay, President of the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation (FASEJ), renewed their partnership agreement for another three years (2017-2020).
On this occasion, a meeting was held at the French Air Force headquarters in Paris in the presence of military and civil authorities, including Mrs Claudie Haigneré, Chairwoman of the FASEJ’s patronage committee, who presented with Mr. François d’Agay a donation to General André Lanata and General Jean-Pierre Job, President of the French Air Force Foundation, for the teaching of the Brevet d’Initiation Aéronautique (Aeronautical Introduction Certificate) to youth, within the framework of the French Air Force’s Army-Nation Plan and Equal Opportunity for Youth Programme.
Placed under the high patronage of the French Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the first partnership agreement had been signed by General Denis Mercier, former Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, and Mr. François d’Agay on 25 May 2013 at Air Base 701 in Salon-de-Provence.
The French Air Force and the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation show their commitment to continue their social and civic activities for the benefit of youth. The unique relationships maintained between the two institutions, which share common values, allow the development of various activities: air base visits, invitations to air shows, first flights on light aircraft, scholarships for secondary school students to attend the Air Force Academy in Salon-de-Provence, etc.
At the end of this event, Mr. François d’Agay offered the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force a portrait of Major Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to thank him for the involvement of his pilots in the national homage to the author of Flight to Arras, which had been organised by the French Republic at the Panthéon in Paris on 13 December 2016, with the support of the Les Ailes Brisées Association, represented by its President, General Jean-Pierre Martin.
Photo Credits: ©Armée de l’Air
01- General André Lanata and Mr. François d’Agay.
02- Introductory speech by André Lanata to his guests.
03- Mr. Nicolas Delsalle, Mrs Claudie Haigneré, Mr. François d’Agay, General André Lanata and General Jean-Pierre Job.
04- Mr. Nicolas Delsalle, Mr. François d’Agay and General André Lanata.