DÉFENSE ZONE
Défense Zone is a magazine that sets out to inform you and help you better understand defence and security issues in France and around the world.
Défense Zone also pays particular attention to images. For all our publications, we strive to find the best photos and thereby showcase the work of photographers. That is what the “Zone image” (Image Zone) section is for. In this new issue, the DZ team has chosen to present the photos of the winners of the French Army’s “Sergent Sébastien Vermeille” photography prize, awarded a few weeks ago in Paris in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the French Army.
In memoriam
On 13 July 2011, in Afghanistan, Sergeant Sébastien Vermeille, a photographer with SIRPA-Terre (the French Army’s public information service), was killed in a suicide attack alongside four other French soldiers. Created two years later, the Vermeille Prize rewards each year professional photographers, military or civilian, whose work highlights the commitment of French Army personnel in the service of France.
Awarded by a jury of professionals, including photojournalists and heads of agencies, magazines and manufacturers, it is also joined by the head of the French Army’s communication service, the director of ECPAD, the head of armed forces communication and the winners of the previous edition, all chaired by the Chief of Staff of the French Army and Sergeant Vermeille’s widow.
Three prizes are awarded
- The report prize : the author must submit between 15 and 20 images on a subject of their choice
- The single photo prize : only one image per photographer is submitted to the jury
- The partner prize : Canon France© chooses a single photo from the entries for the single photo prize
Report prize
“Les aides de camps” (The aides-de-camp)
Lara Priolet / ECPAD
Since the 18th century, military authorities have had at their side young officers responsible for carrying orders across the battlefield. Once messengers and stewards, aides-de-camp, recognisable by the aiguillettes they wear on their uniform, are still indispensable to the lives of the highest-ranking officers today. Seen but often little known, this particular military function is essential for the highest authorities of the State and the armed forces. Present but never intrusive, always in their place, the aide-de-camp is characterised by extreme availability and discretion in all circumstances. Keepers of time and organisation, aides-de-camp always go ahead of their minister or military chief, making them a real point of reference. They are the first point of contact for the authority they follow and privileged observers of major events.
Single photo prize
“Stage commando Guyane” (Commando course, French Guiana)
Sandra Chenu-Godefroy
The Equatorial Forest Training Centre (CEFE) enables the French armed forces to train in jungle survival and combat techniques. Part of the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment and based in the commune of Régina in the heart of the Guianese jungle, the CEFE welcomes and trains around 1,800 trainees a year.
The many courses offered by the Centre combine battle-hardening and training in the environment. Battle-hardening, when, in the training area, personnel are pushed to their limits individually and collectively, during marches and bivouacs in the forest, and are then put to the test on the CEFE’s famous courses (Pecari, Liane, Jaguar and stretcher-bearing). Jungle training, then, when the Centre’s five instructors, 10 assistant forest instructors and 3 boatmen pass on to the trainees their knowledge of the jungle and its dangers, and of the ways to move and survive in it.
Partner prize
“Exercice Orion 2023” (Exercise Orion 2023)
Master Corporal Mohamed Tsivadelle / 11th Parachute Brigade
25 February 2023. Over the Castres area, an Airbus A400M drops paratroopers of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8e RPIMa) for phase 2 of Exercise ORION. This military manoeuvre, the largest in the last 30 years, aims to support an allied country attacked by an opposing force claiming part of its national territory. For this phase of the exercise, the paratroopers’ mission is to retake an airport area from the enemy by means of a massive drop of troops. In all, nearly 600 men of the 11th Parachute Brigade will be dropped during this phase, which will last nearly four weeks.
You can find the whole Image Zone section in Défense Zone Issue 11.
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