By Julien Van Caeyseele Published on
In France, everyone knows about the Joinville battalion and the Antibes battalion… now we must also consider the Fontainebleau battalion (Seine-et-Marne). This new entity from the Inter-Armed Forces Sports School (EIS) will be officially created on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, during the military injured ceremony, at the Fontainebleau municipal center, under the presidency of Army Corps General Laurent Cluzel. The Fontainebleau battalion will complement the missions of the Military Sports Academy of Defense (AMSD), the new name for the now former National Defense Sports Center…
From the village of the injured to the Fontainebleau battalion: the birth of a new mission
“After the two pillars represented by the training of military sports instructors for the armies and gendarmerie – the Antibes battalion and support for high-level sports – the Joinville battalion – it seemed necessary to create an entity focused on the reconstruction of the injured through sports,” detailed General Cyrille Becker, military sports commissioner and commander of the AMSD.
The creation of this battalion was imagined during a discussion with Julien Gondard, the mayor of Fontainebleau. The name thus replaces the Department of Military Injuries and Sports (DBMS). While the inauguration in 2025 of the Geo-André village, which allows for the reception of military injured and their families, led to the creation of a unique structure in Europe, the genesis dates back to 2013 with the creation of a cell to develop and oversee reconstruction through sports.
The Military Sports Academy of Defense replaces the CNSD
A horse to recall the military equestrian school, a rooster inherited from the Inter-Armed Forces Sports School, and a salamander symbol of Fontainebleau. These are the elements that make up the new logo of the Military Sports Academy of Defense (AMSD), the new name for the now former National Defense Sports Center (CNSD), twenty years after its creation. A name change official since March 30, by decision of Pierre Schill, army general and chief of staff of the Army. “This is not just a semantic change,” warns General Cyrille Becker. “The word center can be restrictive, no longer exactly matching the evolution of the structure that has seen the hosting of high-level athletes increase by 60%, or the new mission of reconstructing the injured through sports.” For the general, the term academy has a more universal dimension, “evoking the link with training, which is at the heart of the activity and has a more international reach.” And he adds: “At a time when we talk about high intensity and moral strength, the academy also reminds us that we are increasingly moving towards innovation and research, always for the operational benefit of the armed forces in the years to come.”
On-site, these military injured in operation or in service are supported in their physical and psychological reconstruction. “Everything is done here so that they regain, despite their injuries or disability, the best possible living conditions on a personal, family, social, and professional level,” insists this former Alpine hunter.
In 2026, over 1,200 military and gendarmerie injured have already passed through the village, one year after its inauguration. “This designation of the Fontainebleau battalion allows us to move away from the term ‘injured’, which always refers them back to their condition,” continues the military departmental delegate. But the dimension is also symbolic with the three arches that bear the names of Joinville, Antibes, and Fontainebleau – historic garrison cities – and complements the three rings of the EIS insignia, inherited from the 60s. The future battalion flag was, at the time of writing these lines, in the process of homologation from the historical service of Defense.
“An added value for confidence”
“This new battalion also allows us to further affirm the link between the army and the territory,” emphasizes General Cyrille Becker, who advocates for an ever more qualitative offer for military personnel and their families. Thus, the military wishes to strengthen ties with the tourist office to diversify the proposed activities. Equine mediation courses are already offered, and the Fontainebleau battalion would like to develop cultural and artistic workshops with local artisans.
“We sometimes welcome people with post-traumatic stress disorder, and these activities are real added values to restore confidence and overcome psychological wounds,” claims Cyrille Becker. But just created, the military already imagines evolutions for the Fontainebleau battalion, with, for example, bridges with the City and the Department on the issue of disability.
“Why not imagine open courses for civilians to raise awareness about disability,” he suggests. Especially since the Geo-André village already offers sports and disability courses open to the civilian sports association. According to the general, champion Marie-Amélie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF), would be interested in organizing international sports meetings in Fontainebleau in 2027…
* named after an Olympic athlete and infantry non-commissioned officer killed in combat in 1943.
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