Paul joined the ICRC in 2016 in the Congo where he was responsible for dialogue with Congolese armed forces and various non-state-armed groups. He’s also served as an advisor on armed carriers for ICRC’s Geneva headquarters and later a military and armed group advisory with the Nairobi and Somalia delegations covering Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, and Djibouti. Before his tenure with the ICRC, Paul spent 30 years as an officer in the French Air Force  as the commander of a fighter pilot squadron and in various joint positions including a Africa Desk Officer at the Strategic Operations Centre in Paris and plans for operations in Chad and the Central African Republic. He retired with the rank of colonel. He holds a master’s degree in Aeronautics and Space of the Air Force Academy in Salon de Provence, and is a graduate of the French Joint War College.