Around a hundred young people were carrying out their Defense and Citizenship Day in parallel.
The verdict falls after a few seconds… If their vest doesn’t bear a prestigious decoration this Thursday, March 26, this game of strategy is the opportunity, above all, to immerse these young people in the heart of contemporary geopolitical issues. There are about a hundred of them participating in their Defense and Citizenship Day. Here, no enlistment, even if, creating vocations is not excluded since the second edition of the Orion youth operation is taking place in parallel, nestled within the Arts and Crafts campus of Bordeaux-Talence and bringing together no less than 77 activities: between workshops, conferences, cybersecurity, and military equipment, including an impressive Griffon armored vehicle arriving directly from the 126th Infantry Regiment of Brive-la-Gaillarde.
“Orion youth is part of a larger ecosystem called Orion 2026, an exercise organized every three years and taking place in each defense zone,” recalls General Stephane Groñon, general officer of the Sud-Ouest defense and security zone. A major military action involving maneuvers in “15 departments, including French Guiana.” The first phase, which began in February, mobilized 12,500 French soldiers and around twenty partner nations. The third phase will end in late April with actions, notably in Gironde, in Saint-Maixant.
“A critical spirit”
But how do you prepare for war when you are still in middle school or just barely an adult? “I asked them to be actors of this global approach as European, committed, and French citizens,” mentions General Stephane Groñon. “I also asked them to be mentally strong because the strength of a society is its resilience.” With the Ukrainian case as an example. “Furthermore, I set them a goal: not to stop developing their knowledge, to work well at school, and to keep a critical mind in order to face disinformation. Some of our competitors, through social networks, try to weaken us,” asserts the air corps general.
Three hours after its launch, Orion youth counted 1,400 participants. A few minutes before the ration, well deserved after an improvised obstacle course, what do these students think? Would they be willing to serve in the national service? “If we have to go, serve the country in which we grew up, yes we will go,” Viktor Terrou and Thomas Jaouen, respectively 19 and 18 years old and both in their first year of bachelor’s degree at the National School of Arts and Crafts, declare in unison.
