Allied Command Transformation (ACT) (French: Le Commandement allié Transformation) is a NATO military command, which was formed in 2003 after North Atlantic Treaty Organisation restructuring. It is intended to lead military transformation of alliance forces and capabilities, using new concepts such as the NATO Response Force and new doctrines in order to improve the alliance's military effectiveness.

History[link]

Allied Command Atlantic 1952 to 2003[link]

Allied Command Transformation was preceded by Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT) established in 1952 under the overall command of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT), with its headquarters at Norfolk, Virginia. ACLANT's purpose was to guard the Sea lines of communication between North America and Europe in order to reinforce the European countries of NATO with U.S. troops and supplies in the event of a Soviet/Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. Following the end of the Cold War, the Command was reduced, with many of its subordinate headquarters spread across the Atlantic area losing their NATO status and funding. However, the basic structure remained in place until the Prague Summit in the Czech Republic in 2002. This led to ACLANT being decommissioned effective 19 June 2003, and a new Allied Command Transformation being established as its successor.^[1]

Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. US Navy became the last SACLANT on 2 October 2002. He served as ACLANT commander until 19 Jun 2003. He then served as Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation, until 1 Aug 2005. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope RN, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, then served as Acting Supreme Allied Commander until the arrival of General Lance L. Smith USAF in November 2005.

After the Cold War[link]

At the 2002 Prague Summit, it was decided that NATO should change its military structures and concepts, and acquire new types of equipment to face the operational challenges of coalition warfare against the threats of the new millennium. Thus NATO’s military command structure was reorganized with a focus on becoming leaner and more efficient, focusing one strategic command, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), on transforming NATO, while focusing NATO's other strategic command on NATO’s operations Allied Command Operations (ACO/SHAPE). ACT was formally established on June 19, 2003.

In the wake of expanding NATO missions and areas of operations, the Cold War alliance has undertaken efforts to change and transform to meet contemporary threats to member nations. One such method called, "Baseline for Rapid Iterative Transformational Experimentation" (BRITE) develops new NATO capabilities. A suite of BRITE applications has been designed in response to the Maritime Situational Awareness request. This request, a product of a U.S. international and inter agency initiative termed "Maritime Domain Awareness," serves to counter threats to the contest maritime commons including terrorism, human/drug smuggling, piracy, and espionage.

Since Allied Command Atlantic became Allied Command Transformation, commanders have included non-naval officers. Gen. Lance L. Smith USAF commanded ACT from 10 Nov 2005 until 9 Nov 2007. He was succeeded by Gen. James N. Mattis USMC, who served from 9 Nov 2007 - 08 Sep 2009. A significant change was the assumption of command by a French officer, after France rejoined the NATO Command Structure in mid 2009. General Stéphane Abrial, former chief of the French Air Force assumed command in 2009.

The Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation position is currently filled by General Mieczysław Bieniek of the Polish Land Forces. He succeeded Admiral Luciano Zappata (Italian Navy), who had himself succeeded Admiral Stanhope in July 2007.^[2] For several years, in a carryover from SACLANT, the Deputy's position was filled by a Royal Navy admiral. Stanhope's succession by Zappata meant an end to this practice.

Responsibilities[link]

Allied Command Transformation's current mission is to:

• provide the conceptual framework for the conduct of future combined joint operations;
• define how future operations will be conducted and what capabilities they will need;
• take new operational concepts, from others or self-generated, assess their viability and value, and bring them to maturity through doctrine development, scientific research, experimentation and technological development;
• implement both by persuading nations, individually and collectively, to acquire the capability, and provide the education and training, enabling concepts to be implemented by NATO forces.

A large number of conferences and seminars have been organised by the command in fulfilment of its conceptual development mission. These have included CD&E, a national Chiefs of Transformation conference, an examination of the Global Commons, Law of Armed Conflict, and a Multiple Futures project.^[3]

Organization[link]

The command's headquarters is located in Norfolk, Virginia, in the United States. HQ SACT itself is organised into a command group, the Transformation Directorate, the Transformation Support Directorate, National Liaison Representatives, the Partnership for Peace Staff Element and Reservists responsible to HQ SACT.

The Transformation Directorate is headed by the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) Transformation who acts as the Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation’s (SACT) Director for guidance and coordination of the activities of his Directorate Transformation, divided in two divisions: Implementation and Capabilities. Within the full scale of SACT’s transformational responsibilities Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) Transformation assist the Chief of Staff (COS) in the execution of his duties with emphasis on deliverables to the Alliance Military Transformation Process in order to enhance NATO’s operational capabilities and to meet NATO’s future requirements.

Implementation Division, led by Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS) Implementation, is responsible for guidance and coordination of the activities of two Sub-Divisions, Joint Education and Training (JET) and Joint Experimentation, Exercises and Assessment (JEEA) as well as providing guidance for the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) and Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC), in their efforts to enhance training programs, to path on breaking concept development and experimentation, to develop effective programs to capture and implement lessons learned and to press on common standards. This division probably serves as NATO's linkpoint to the annual U.S.-led Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration.

Capabilities Division, led by Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS) Capabilities, is responsible for guidance and coordination of the activities of three Sub-Divisions of Strategic Concepts, Policy, and Coordination (SCPI); Future Capabilities, Research and Technology (FCRT) and Defence Planning (Def Plan) in their efforts to staff Capabilities, Concepts and Development products.

Subordinate commands[link]

Reflecting NATO as a whole, ACT has a worldwide presence.^[4] Before the deactivation of United States Joint Forces Command, the two organisations were co-located, and indeed shared a commander for some time. There is an ACT command element located at SHAPE in Mons, Belgium. Additional subordinate commands include the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) located in Stavanger, Norway; the Joint Force Training Centre (JFTC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland; the Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC) in Monsanto, Portugal; and the NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC), La Spezia, Italy, NATO School Oberammergau, other NATO schools, and various Centres of Excellence.^[5] These additional elements assist in ACT's transformation efforts. Under a customer-funded arrangement, ACT invests about 30 million Euros into research with the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) each year to support scientific and experimental programs.

NATO Centres of Excellence[link]

As defined by NATO, a Centre of Excellence (COE) is a nationally or multinationally sponsored entity, which offers recognised expertise and experience to the benefit of the Alliance, especially in support of transformation. NATO has a total of 19.[1] It provides opportunities to enhance education and training, to improve interoperability and capabilities, to assist in doctrine development and/or to test and validate concepts through experimentation. A COE is not a part of the NATO Command Structure (NCS), but their activities with NATO are coordinated through HQ ACT.

NATO library has provided starting September 2011 a special NATO LibGuide on the topic NATO Centre of Excellences [2]

Principles:

• No duplication or competition with existing NATO capabilities
• Nationally funded
• Conforms to NATO procedures, doctrines, standards and security policies
• Coordinated Programmes of Work provide guidance with inputs from both ACT and ACO organisations

NATO has the following fully accredited COEs:

• The Center for Analysis & Simulation for the Preparation of Air Operations Centre of Excellence (CASPOA) COE in Lyon – Mont Verdun Air Base, France
• The Civil - Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence (CIMIC) COE in Enschede, Netherlands
• The Cold Weather Operations Centre of Excellence (CWO) COE in Bodø, Norway
• The Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS-COE) in Norfolk, Virginia, United States.([3]) The CJOS COE appears to be a component of the United States Second Fleet.
• The Command & Control Centre of Excellence (C2) COE in Utrecht, Netherlands
• The Confined and Shallow Waters Centre of Excellence (CSW) COE in Kiel, Germany
• The Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia
• The Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED) COE in Madrid, Spain
• The Defence Against Terrorism Centre of Excellence (DAT) COE in Ankara, Turkey
• The Human Intelligence Centre of Excellence (HUMINT) COE in Oradea, Romania
• The Joint Air Power Competence Center (JAPCC) COE in Kalkar, Germany. JAPCC is located at Von-Seydlitz-Kaserne, Römerstraße 140. D-47546 Kalkar. The JAPCC succeeds the Reaction Forces (Air) Staff, originally activated in 1993. The RFAS Memorandum of Understanding was terminated and all RFAS activities ceased on the formal activation of the Joint Air Power Competence Centre on 1 January 2005.^[6]
• The Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation, & Nuclear Defence Centre of Excellence (JCBRN Defence) COE in Vyškov, Czech Republic
• The Military Engineering Centre of Excellence (MILENG) COE in Ingolstadt, Germany
• The Military Medical Centre of Excellence (MILMED) COE in Budapest, Hungary
• The Naval Mine Warfare Centre of Excellence (EGUERMIN) COE in Oostende, Belgium
• Explosive Ordanance Disposal (EOD) COE in Trenčín, Slovakia

NATO also has four not fully accredited COEs:

• Energy Security (ENSEC) COE in Vilnius, Lithuania
• Military Police in Mińsk Mazowiecki, Poland
• Modelling and Simulation (M&S) COE in Rome, Italy
• Multinational Centre of Excellence for Mountain Warfare (MW) COE in Bohinjska Bela, Slovenia

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

1. ^ "New NATO Transformation Command Established in Norfolk". American Forces Press Service. United States Department of Defense. 19 June 2003. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=28854. Retrieved 2008-09-09. 
2. ^ Outgoing NATO deputy commander has seen growing pains, Virginian-Pilot, July 3, 2007
3. ^ http://www.act.nato.int, list of seminars/conferences
4. ^ Allied Command Transformation, ACT History, accessed September 2007
5. ^ Nato Centres of Excellence
6. ^ http://www.nato.int/issues/iban/iban_report_2006-e.pdf, verified September 2008

External links[link]

• NATO A to Z Centre of Excellence
• ACT NATO Centres Of Excellence
• ACT Official Website
• Distributed Networked Battle Labs

Coordinates: 50°29′58″N 3°59′02″E / 50.49944°N 3.98389°E / 50.49944; 3.98389

Stéphane Abrial
Général d'Armée Aérienne Stéphane Abrial, Commander Allied Command Transformation-NATO
Born	(1954-09-07) September 7, 1954 (age 57) Condom-en-Armagnac, Gers
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	French Air Force
Years of service	1972 -
Rank	Général d'Armée Aérienne
Commands held	Chief of Staff of the French Air Force (2006-2009) Allied Command Transformation (2009-)
Battles/wars	Gulf War
Awards	Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour Officer of the Order of National Merit Médaille de l'Aéronautique Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) Grand Officer of the Order of Abdulaziz al Saud (Saudi Arabia) Officer of the Order of Aeronautical Merit (Brazil)

Stéphane Abrial (French pronunciation: [abʁiɑl]), born on 7 September 1954 in the South-Western French region of Armagnac, is a French General who is the Commander of Allied Command Transformation based in Norfolk, VA, one of the two NATO strategic commands. His previous posting was as the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force.^[1]

French Military career[link]

General Stéphane Abrial graduated in 1973 from the French Air Force academy (the Ecole de l'Air), and in 1974 from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He completed pilot training at the French Air Force Academy in 1976.

From 1977 to 1991, he served as a fighter pilot both in France (in Cambrai, Dijon and Orange) and, from 1981 to 1984, in a West German Luftwaffe unit. In 1988, he assisted the Greek Air Force in converting its first unit equipped with the Mirage 2000.

In 1991, he took part in the first Gulf War as a fighter pilot and commander of the French Air Force’s 5th Fighter Squadron. Later that year, he attended the Air War College, at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

From 1992 to 1996, he served in the staffs of the French Air Force Chief of Staff and the Chief of Defense Staff. From 1996 to 1999, he served at NATO Headquarters, in Brussels. In 2000, he became deputy head of the French President's military staff, and in 2002 was appointed head of the French Prime Minister's military staff.

In 2005, General Abrial became head of the French Air Defense headquarters, in Taverny, and in 2006 Air Force Chief of Staff.^[2]

NATO Supreme Allied Commander[link]

Gen. Stéphane Abrial received appointment by the North Atlantic Council as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation on 29 July 2009, the first European to be appointed permanently as head of a NATO strategic command.

In April 2010, he received a Distinguished Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council.^[3]

Major military awards[link]

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• Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur
• Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite
• Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures with star
• Croix du Combattant
• Médaille de l'Aéronautique
• Overseas Medal with two bars
• Legion of Merit (USA) Grade of Commander
• Bundeswehr Cross of Honour in Silver
• German Sports Badge (Military version in Bronze)
• Order of Abdulaziz al Saud (Saudi Arabia) (Superior Class)
• Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)
• Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
• Officer of the Order of Aeronautical Merit (Brazil)^[4][5]
• Santos-Dumont Medal of Merit (Medalha do Mérito Santos Dumont), Brazilian Air Force

Notes[link]

François Hollande
Hollande in Nantes (2012)
24th President of France
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2012
Prime Minister	Jean-Marc Ayrault
Preceded by	Nicolas Sarkozy
Co-Prince of Andorra
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2012 Serving with Joan Enric Vives Sicília
Prime Minister	Antoni Martí
Representative	Christian Frémont
Preceded by	Nicolas Sarkozy
President of the General Council of Corrèze
In office 20 March 2008 – 15 May 2012
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Dupont
Succeeded by	Gérard Bonnet (Acting)
First Secretary of the Socialist Party
In office 27 November 1997 – 27 November 2008
Preceded by	Lionel Jospin
Succeeded by	Martine Aubry
Mayor of Tulle
In office 17 March 2001 – 17 March 2008
Preceded by	Raymond-Max Aubert
Succeeded by	Bernard Combes
Deputy of the National Assembly for Corrèze's 1st Constituency
In office 12 June 1997 – 15 May 2012
Preceded by	Raymond-Max Aubert
Succeeded by	TBD
In office 12 June 1988 – 16 May 1993
Preceded by	Proportional representation
Succeeded by	Raymond-Max Aubert
Personal details
Born	François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (1954-08-12) 12 August 1954 (age 57) Rouen, France
Political party	Socialist Party
Domestic partner	Ségolène Royal (1978–2007) Valérie Trierweiler (2005–present)
Children	Thomas Clémence Julien Flora
Alma mater	School of High Commercial Studies, Paris Institute of Political Studies, Paris National School of Administration, Strasbourg
Signature

Styles of François Hollande
Reference style	Son Excellence (Monsieur)
Spoken style	Monsieur le Président

Styles of François Hollande
Reference style	His Serene Highness
Spoken style	Your Serene Highness

François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa ɔlɑ̃d]; born 12 August 1954) is the 24th President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He previously served as the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party from 1997 to 2008 and as a Deputy of the National Assembly of France for Corrèze's 1st Constituency from 1988 to 1993 and then again from 1997 to 2012. He also served as the Mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008 and the President of the General Council of Corrèze from 2008 to 2012.

He was elected President of France on 6 May 2012, defeating the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, and was inaugurated on 15 May.^[1] He is the second Socialist President of the Fifth French Republic, after François Mitterrand who served from 1981 to 1995.

Early life and background[link]

Hollande was born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, to a middle-class family. His mother, Nicole Frédérique Marguerite Tribert (1927–2009), was a social worker, and his father, Georges Gustave Hollande, an ear, nose, and throat doctor who "had once run for the extreme right in local politics."^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The surname "Hollande" is "believed to come from Calvinist ancestors who escaped Holland (the Netherlands) in the 16th century and took the name of their old country."^[7] Hollande was raised Catholic but quietly rebelled against the strict religious brothers chosen by his father to educate him.^[7] The family moved to Neuilly, a suburb of Paris, when Hollande was 13.^[8]

Education[link]

He attended Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle boarding school, then HEC Paris, École nationale d'administration, and the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies). He graduated from ENA in 1980.^[9][10] He lived in the United States in the summer of 1974 while he was a university student.^[11] Immediately after graduating, he was employed as a councillor in the Court of Audit.

Early political career[link]

After volunteering as a student to work for François Mitterrand's ultimately unsuccessful campaign in the 1974 presidential election, Hollande joined the Socialist Party five years later. He was quickly spotted by Jacques Attali, a senior adviser to Mitterrand, who arranged for Hollande to stand for election to the French National Assembly in 1981 in Corrèze against future President Jacques Chirac, who was then the Leader of the Rally for the Republic, a Neo-Gaullist party. Hollande lost to Chirac in the first round, although he would go on to become a Special Adviser to the newly-elected President Mitterrand, before serving as a staffer for Max Gallo, the government's spokesman. After becoming a Municipal Councillor for Ussel in 1983, he contested Corrèze for a second time in 1988, this time being elected to the National Assembly. Hollande lost his bid for re-election to the National Assembly in the so-called "blue wave" of the 1993 election, described as such due to the number of seats gained by the Right at the expense of the Socialist Party.

First Secretary of the Socialist Party[link]

As the end of Mitterrand's term in office approached, the Socialist Party was torn by a struggle of internal factions, each seeking to influence the direction of the party. Hollande pleaded for reconciliation and for the party to unite behind Jacques Delors, the President of the European Commission, but Delors renounced his ambitions to run for the French Presidency in 1995, leading to Lionel Jospin's resuming his earlier position as the leader of the party. Jospin selected Hollande to become the official party spokesman, and Hollande went on to contest Corrèze once again in 1997, successfully returning to the National Assembly. That same year, Jospin became the Prime Minister of France, and Hollande won the election for his successor as First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, a position he would hold for eleven years. Because of the very strong position of the Socialist Party within the French Government during this period, Hollande's position led some to refer to him the "Vice Prime Minister". Hollande would go on to be elected the Mayor of Tulle in 2001, an office he would hold for the next seven years.

The immediate resignation of Jospin from politics following his shock defeat by far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of the 2002 presidential election forced Hollande to become the public face of the party for the 2002 legislative election but, although he managed to limit defeats and was re-elected in his own constituency, the Socialists lost nationally. In order to prepare for the 2003 Party Congress in Dijon, he obtained the support of many notable personalities of the party and was re-elected First Secretary against opposition from left-wing factions. After the triumph of the Left in the 2004 regional elections, Hollande was cited as a potential presidential candidate, but the Socialists were divided on the European Constitution, and Hollande's support for the ill-fated "yes" position in the French referendum on the European Constitution caused friction within the party. Although Hollande was re-elected as First Secretary at the Le Mans Congress in 2005, his authority over the party began to decline from this point onwards. Eventually his domestic partner, Ségolène Royal, was chosen to represent the Socialist Party in the 2007 presidential election, where she would lose to Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande was widely blamed for the poor performances of the Socialist Party in the 2007 elections, and he announced that he would not seek another term as First Secretary. Hollande publicly declared his support for Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, although it was Martine Aubry who would go on to win the race to succeed him in 2008.

Following his resignation as First Secretary, Hollande was immediately elected to replace Jean-Pierre Dupont as the President of the General Council of Corrèze in April 2008, a position he holds to this day. In 2008 he supported the creation of the first European Prize for Local History (Étienne Baluze Prize), founded by the "Société des Amis du musée du cloître" of Tulle, on the suggestion of the French historian Jean Boutier. François Hollande awarded the first prize on 29 February 2008 to the Italian historian Beatrice Palmero in the General Council of Corrèze.

2012 presidential campaign[link]

See also: French presidential election, 2012

Following his re-election as President of the General Council of Corrèze in March 2011, Hollande announced that he would be a candidate in the upcoming primary election to select the Socialist and Radical Left Party presidential nominee.^[12] The primary marked the first time that both parties had held an open primary to select a joint nominee at the same time. He initially trailed the front-runner, former Finance Minister and IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Following Strauss-Kahn's arrest on suspicion of sexual assault in New York City in May 2011, Hollande began to lead the opinion polls. His position as front-runner was established just as Strauss-Kahn declared that he would no longer be seeking the nomination. After a series of televised debates throughout September, Hollande topped the ballot in the first round held on 9 October with 39% of the vote, not gaining the 50% required to avoid a second ballot, which he would contest against Martine Aubry, who had come second with 30% of the vote.

The second ballot took place on 16 October 2011. Hollande won with 56% of the vote to Aubry's 43% and thus became the official Socialist and Radical Left Party candidate for the 2012 presidential election.^[13] After the primary results, he immediately gained the pledged support of the other contenders for the party's nomination, including Aubry, Arnaud Montebourg, Manuel Valls and 2007 candidate Ségolène Royal.^[14]

Hollande's presidential campaign was managed by Pierre Moscovici and Stéphane Le Foll, a Member of Parliament and Member of the European Parliament respectively.^[15] Hollande launched his campaign officially with a rally and major speech at Le Bourget on 22 January 2012 in front of 25,000 people.^[16][17] The main themes of his speech were equality and the regulation of finance, both of which he promised to make a key part of his campaign.^[17]

On 26 January he outlined a full list of policies in a manifesto containing 60 propositions, including the separation of retail activities from riskier investment-banking businesses; raising taxes for big corporations, banks and the wealthy; creating 60,000 teaching jobs; bringing the official retirement age back down to 60 from 62; creating subsidised jobs in areas of high unemployment for the young; promoting more industry in France by creating a public investment bank; granting marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples; and pulling French troops out of Afghanistan in 2012.^[18][19] On 9 February, he detailed his policies specifically relating to education in a major speech in Orléans.^[20]

On 15 February, incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would run for a second and final term, strongly criticising Hollande's proposals and claiming that he would bring about "economic disaster within two days of taking office" if he won.^[21]

Hollande visited Berlin, Germany, in December 2011 for the Social Democrats Federal Party Congress, at which he met Sigmar Gabriel, Peer Steinbrück, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Martin Schulz;^[22][23] he also travelled to Belgium before the United Kingdom in February 2012, where he met with Opposition Leader Ed Miliband; and finally Tunisia in May 2012.^[24][25]

Opinion polls showed a tight race between the two men in the first round of voting, with most polls showing Hollande comfortably ahead of Sarkozy in a hypothetical second round run-off.^[26]

The first round of the presidential election was held on 22 April. François Hollande came in first place with 28.63% of the vote, and faced Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round run-off.^[27] In the second round of voting on 6 May 2012, François Hollande was elected President of the French Republic with 51.7% of the vote.^[1]

President of France[link]

Hollande (right) and outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy at Élysée Palace on inauguration day, May 15.

François Hollande was elected President of France on 6 May 2012. He was inaugurated on 15 May, and shortly afterwards appointed Jean-Marc Ayrault to be his Prime Minister. He also appointed Benoît Puga to be his military chief of staff, Pierre-René Lemas as his General Secretary and Pierre Besnard as his Head of Cabinet.^[28] On his first official visit to a foreign country in his capacity as President of France, the aeroplane transporting him was hit by lightning.^[29] The plane returned safely to Paris where he took another flight to Germany.

Policies[link]

• Foreign policy: supports the withdrawal of French troops present in Afghanistan by the end of 2012.^[30]
• European politics: aims to conclude a new contract of Franco-German partnership and he advocates the adoption of a Directive on the protection of public services. Proposes closer Franco-German partnership: "an acceleration of the establishment of a Franco-German civic service, the creation of a Franco-German research office, the creation of a Franco-German industrial fund to finance common competitiveness clusters (transport, energy or environment) and the establishment of a common military headquarters."^[31]
• Financial system: backs the creation of a European rating agency and the separation of lending and investment in banks.
• Energy: endorses reducing the share of electricity generated by nuclear power in France from 75 to 50% in favor of renewable energy sources.
• Tax revenues above 1,000,000 euros per year at a 75% rate (rates for part of the income below a million not changed).
• Taxation: supports the merger of income tax and the General Social Contribution (CSG), the creation of an additional 45% for additional income of 150,000 euros, capping tax loopholes at a maximum of €10,000 per year, and questioning the relief solidarity tax on wealth (ISF, Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune) measure that should bring €29 billion in additional revenue.
• Education: supports the recruitment of 60,000 civil servants (new teachers), the creation of a study allowance and means-tested training, setting up a mutually beneficial contract that would allow a generation of experienced employees and craftsmen to be the guardians and teachers of younger newly-hired employees, thereby creating a total of 150,000 subsidized jobs.
• Aid to SMEs, with the creation of a public bank investment-oriented SME's and reducing the corporate tax rate to 30% for medium corporations and 15% for small.
• Recruitment of 5,000 judges, police officers and gendarmes.
• Construction of 500,000 state ruled homes per year, including 150,000 social, funded by a doubling of the ceiling of the A passbook, the region making available its local government land within five years.
• Restoration of retirement (paid by the State) at age 60 for those who have contributed more than 41 years.
• Hollande supported same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBT couples, and has plans to pursue the issue in early 2013.^[32]
• The provision of development funds for deprived suburbs.^[33]
• Return to a deficit of 0% of GDP in 2017.^[34]
• Favours ratifying the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, for the recognition of regional languages of France: Alsatian, Lorraine Franconian, French Flemish, Catalan, Corsican, Breton, Gallo, Basque, Langues d'oïl, Franco-Provençal and Occitan.^[35][36]
• Wants to "combine the positions of presidents of the European Commission and of the European Council (currently held by José Manuel Barroso and Herman van Rompuy respectively) into a single office and that it should be directly chosen" by the Members of the European Parliament.^[31]

Personal life[link]

Hollande with his former partner, Ségolène Royal, at a rally for the 2007 elections

For over 30 years, his partner was fellow Socialist politician Ségolène Royal, with whom he has four children – Thomas (1984), Clémence (1985), Julien (1987) and Flora (1992). In June 2007, just a month after Royal's defeat in the French presidential election of 2007, the couple announced that they were separating.^[37]

A few months after his split from Ségolène Royal was announced, a French website published details of a relationship between Hollande and French journalist Valérie Trierweiler. This disclosure was controversial, as some considered it to be a breach of France's strict stance on the privacy of politicians' personal affairs. In November 2007, Valérie Trierweiler confirmed and openly discussed her relationship with Hollande in an interview with the French weekly Télé 7 Jours.

Honours and decorations[link]

• Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour (2012 — automatic upon taking office)
• Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (2012 — automatic upon taking office)

Works[link]

Hollande has had a large number of books and academic works published, including:

• L'Heure des choix. Pour une économie politique (The hour of choices. For a political economy), with Pierre Moscovici, 1991. ISBN 2-7381-0146-1
• L'Idée socialiste aujourd'hui (The Socialist Idea Today), Omnibus, 2001. ISBN 978-2-259-19584-3
• Devoirs de vérité (Duties of truth), interviews with Edwy Plenel, éd. Stock, 2007. ISBN 978-2-234-05934-4
• Droit d'inventaires (Rights of inventory), interviews with Pierre Favier, Le Seuil, 2009. ISBN 978-2-02-097913-9
• Le rêve français (The French Dream), Privat, August 2011. ISBN 978-2-7089-4441-1
• Un destin pour la France (A Destiny for France), Fayard, January 2012. ISBN 978-2-213-66283-1
• Changer de destin (Changing destiny), Robert Laffont, February 2012. ISBN 978-2-221-13117-6

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Michel, Richard (2011). François Hollande: L'inattendu. Paris: Archipel. ISBN 978-2-8098-0600-7.  (French)
• Raffy, Serge (2011). François Hollande: Itinéraire Secret. Paris: Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-63520-0.  (French)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: François Hollande

• (French) President of France
• (French) Official page at the French National Assembly
• (French) Official website
• François Hollande, 11 années à la tête du Parti Socialiste, Politique.net
• Michael C. Behrent (Sister Republic),"Socialism of Adjustment: François Hollande"

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For Real was an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1993.^[1] In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Grammy, Billboard Music Award, and Soul Train Music Award.

Biography[link]

For Real secured their recording contract by accident. "We were picking up our manager from the airport. So we decided to greet him with an acappella song. Someone from A&M Records just happened to be in the airport and heard them perform. Not long after, they were signed," said Latanyia Baldwin.^[2]

The band released their debut album, It's a Natural Thang, with production from Brian McKnight on A&M Records in 1994, and it became a critical success, including a rare four stars from Rolling Stone magazine.^[3] Their first single, "You Don't Wanna Miss" hit #28 on the Billboard chart, courtesy of a danceable new jack swing remix by Steve "Silk" Hurley, which was featured in the song's video. A second single, "Easy to Love", peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album scored another chart hit with the a cappella love song, "You Don't Know Nothin'", which was written and produced by Mervyn Warren, and which peaked at #27. The song peaked at #54 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1995.^[4] The album sold over one million copies worldwide, and peaked at #80 on the Billboard 200.

In 1995, the band appeared in Italian Vogue, modeling men's suits. They toured alongside Stevie Wonder,^[5] and lent their voices to the Martin Scorsese film project Grace of My Heart. The foursome also forayed into acting with appearances in the film Shake, Rattle and Rock! starring Renée Zellweger and Howie Mandel^[6] on Showtime.

They also hit the US Top 20 with the single "Freedom (Theme from Panther)" featuring Aaliyah, TLC, En Vogue, BlackGirl, SWV, and Vanessa Williams from the film Panther. They also recorded a duet with Stevie Wonder called "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", which appeared on the Marvin Gaye tribute album, Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye.^[7] For Real also recorded songs for the soundtracks of the films Waiting to Exhale and Fled.

After a label change from A&M to Dallas Austin's Arista imprint Rowdy Records in 1996, For Real struck again with the Austin-produced, 60s-leaning single "Like I Do", from their second album Free. "Like I Do" hit #10 on the Billboard singles chart. The video also earned a Billboard nomination for Best R&B Clip; the album made the Top 100, and sold nearly 400,000 copies in the US. The album's next and last single was the Diane Warren-penned pop ballad "The Saddest Song I Ever Heard" which hit #65 on the Top 100 singles chart. The band performed "Saddest Song" on the TV series All That. Free included production from top R&B/pop producers like Babyface, Mario Winans, and Jon B..

The band also recorded three songs ("I Do", "Born to Love That Boy" and "Unwanted Number") and appeared in the critically acclaimed film Grace of My Heart. The film's soundstrack won a Satellite Award in 1997.^[9][10]

In January 1997, the band won an American Music Award for their work on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, in Summer 1997, the group earned a Soul Train Award nomination for Album of the Year (By a Group, Band or Duo) for Free.

In 1999, Wendi Williams lent her voice to the Emmy-winning film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge with Halle Berry, in which Berry plays a singer but Williams is behind her singing voice.^[11]

In 2002, their song "Love Will Be Waiting at Home" appeared in the film Two Can Play That Game, which starred Vivica A. Fox and Morris Chestnut.

In 2009, CoryLavel began to work with Josina Elder on her new album.

Discography[link]

• It's a Natural Thang (1994)
• Free (1996)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]