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Dancing in the D’Arc – RN officer joins France’s premier task group deployment
27 August 2024
There’s no place like Joan for Royal Navy Lieutenant Elliot Marples, who’s spent five months with the French Navy’s premier task force deployment.
He joined Mission Jeanne d’Arc – Joan of Arc – as an exchange officer as the task group (two ships, three helicopters and 800 personnel) ranged around the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific.
Tracing its history back 160 years – the only gaps the two world wars – the long-standing deployment seeks to give Marine Nationale’s officer cadets practical training at sea, as well as a taste of diplomacy and interaction with overseas navies.
The 2024 iteration took the participants to the western Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America, the Panama Canal, Caribbean and North America before returning home to Brest.
As well as the trainee cadets, the French extended an invitation to the Royal Navy to embark an exchange officer as an instructor aboard deployment flagship FS Tonnerre,
Tonnerre – French for ‘thunder’ – isa helicopter assault ship (imagine a hybrid of the former helicopter carrier HMS Ocean with amphibious assault ships HMS Albion or Bulwark). Escorting her was the frigate FS Guépratte.
With a French mother, the language side of the exchange wasn’t too much of a problem for the Brit – but learning the routines, systems and culture were more challenging.
Once mastered, Elliot was charged with providing lessons to the international officer cadets who could not attend French lessons, and also assist the English teacher in delivering lessons and conducting assessments.As with many major Royal Navy deployments, the plans for Jeanne d’Arc did not survive contact with the real world as instead of visiting French Guiana, the Tonnerre was sent to Haiti to evacuate civilians as political/social unrest swept through the Caribbean nation.
Thereafter, the deployment returned to its original plan and five Spanish-speaking ports. “Assisting with ship’s tours for VIPs and attending receptions in the hangar around senior Latin American officers while simultaneously flying the flags of Britain and France and speaking in a mixture of Spanish, French and English was an interesting experience,” Elliot said.
But Jeanne d’Arc wasn’t just about port visits. The task group carried out multinational naval exercises with virtually every country it called on.
“Flexibility and short-term planning became a bit of a motto as plans changed at the last minute and the complexity of the exercises adapted to a growing enthusiasm from the Latin American countries to show their military prowess,” Elliot added.
“Their eagerness to train with European navies was striking.”
He has nothing but praise for the wider experience of the deployment too.
“I hope that this exchange endures and that other Royal Navy officers are given the opportunity to experience a Jeanne d’Arc,” Elliot said.
“The presence of a Royal Navy officer at the heart of the Marine Nationale’s officer training is a powerful symbol for the strong ties between our nations, and the interoperability of our two militaries.
“The experience is definitely one I would love to repeat if given the chance.”