After reading this dossier, the reader may be tempted to answer the question: "Are the military taking its rightful place in society? »

Actually that's not a good question; it's poorly phrased. For the merit argument is probably ill-advised on this subject. The place to be held is not a due; it is not offered; it is not a right... And it is not spontaneously proposed to us ... we are not expected ...

The place of the military in society, in our society, is a place that we must know how to seize; we know it well, we who must besiege them when they are deemed "strong"! This place, because it can be questioned on a daily basis, is also to be conquered.

It is a place that we must know how to claim, by being able to justify our ability and our claim to occupy it. Our know-how and our interpersonal skills are the keys that open the doors to a form of recognition and acceptance. They cannot, however, be sufficient. The real key is more that of will and determination, that of our personal investment: "Military, have you done what it took to take your place, your rank, your role within your community? " We could even put it in terms borrowed from the Gospel: "Military, what have you done with your talents ? »

The testimonies that make up the weft of this dossier show us that there is a lot to be done, a lot of ways of taking one's place, in the most varied domains: with the media, in politics, in the social and associative sphere, in the educational world, in the business world, within one's religious community, in health care... It is enough to want to, to leave our " comfort zone" to accept to face other challenges, other spaces. It is enough to want to, to leave our "comfort zone" to accept to face other challenges, other spaces... It is necessary in fact to consent to a form of questioning...

Our legitimacy with regard to our fellow citizens is earned throughout our career. This is why we should not wait until retirement to do so. Nor should we be satisfied with the world of combatant associations which, in the end, even if it is perfectly respectable, is only an extension of the military institution to which we belonged. It is "elsewhere", in contact with our country's youth and vital forces, that we must seek to get involved. And this throughout our military career.

Aren't we too often tempted to withdraw into our identity? Isolate ourselves, stay among ourselves, withdraw to a faraway country, cultivate our vegetable garden and watch our children and then our grandchildren grow up? We cannot at the same time claim a place and refuse to commit ourselves by withdrawing, not seizing the opportunities that arise!

Neither career mobility nor the restrictions linked to our status, even if they can be seen as a brake, should be a pretext for complacency!

Military personnel must finally accept the obvious: it is their duty to remain ambitious for their country and for their fellow citizens, outside their professional military activity; and to continue to be so afterwards, once they have left the uniform. There are many opportunities, many places to be occupied in a society to which we continue to be able to contribute skills, knowledge, values, convictions?

And indeed, most of us, when looking for an activity, whether salaried or voluntary, on the fringes of active service or beyond, wish above all that it makes sense, that it corresponds to a form of self-sacrifice: tutoring, young people in difficulty, visits to hospitals or prisons, local electoral mandates...

The examples in this dossier show the paths to be followed and illustrate the few obstacles that sometimes stand in their way. They are often easy to overcome. And, even if this idea may seem outdated, we always get more than we give...

Our place, our role, it is therefore in the registers of example and service that we must conceive of them. For our contribution to the life of the city can only have meaning and usefulness when it 'fits in with what makes our strength within the military institution: to serve!