A graduate of the engineering university Arts & Metiers, Emmanuel Slaars joined the Navy in 1993 as part of his national service. Of the last 28 years, 18 have been dedicated solely to operations aboard warships, representing more than 8 full years at sea.
He was first engaged from 1993 to 1995 in the combined maritime operation SHARP GUARD, enforcing the prohibition of arms smuggling in the Adriatic Sea. Recruited on graduate, he joined the Navy officers’ training school aboard helicopter carrier JEANNE D’ARC and he specialized in above water warfare. He served notably on the destroyer DUQUESNE, before being assigned to nuclear attack submarine. In 1998 he embarked on anti-submarine destroyer during the TRIDENT mission in the Adriatic Sea, as part of FOCH Carrier Strike Group, in addition to Operation KHOR ANGAR to protect the port of Djibouti confronted with the Eritrean air threat. He took command in 2000 of the training ship TIGRE. He returned to high seas in 2004 aboard anti-submarine destroyer and participated, to Operation BERYX, providing assistance to populations in Southeast Asia after the tsunami. In 2006, he took part in allied operations against narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean Sea.
In 2007, he was appointed to Commanding Officer of the frigate COMMANDANT BLAISON, and the same summer, while deployed to the Indian Ocean during Operation HERACLES, he participated in the recovery of the Danish cargo DANICA WHITE and her crew held hostage for three months by a group of pirates a few hundred yards from a Somalian pirates camp. After graduating at the Joint Staff College in 2008, he joined the Strategic Affairs department of the Ministry of Defence. In 2011 he was appointed on board air defence destroyer CHEVALIER PAUL as Executive Officer on board which he took part in Operation HARMATTAN – UNIFIED PROTECTOR conducting, under enemy fire, several combat actions against Libyan pro-Gaddafi positions. In August 2012, he joined FRMARFOR as Chief of Staff of the CHARLES DE GAULLE Carrier Strike Group (CSG). As such, he was notably involved in the preparation and conduct of the CSG Operation BOIS BELLEAU while to the Arabian Gulf.
On 2014, Captain Slaars took command of the air defence destroyer CHEVALIER PAUL and was in charge of the protection of CVN CHARLES DE GAULLE during two years, notably when in the Arabian Gulf. Auditor of the Centre des Hautes Etudes Militaires (CHEM) he joined the Joint Staff in 2017 with the responsibility of leading the development of combat capabilities in the aeromaritime domain. He contributed to the work of the 2019-2025 military programming law.
Promoted to Rear-Admiral in June 2021, he is designated Deputy Commander of the French Maritime Force (FRMARFOR) and join Rota to act as Deputy of EUNAVFOR ATALANTA. In August 2022, he is appointed as Joint Commander of the French Forces deployed in the Indian Ocean, Joint Commander of the French Forces stationed in the United Arab Emirates, National Contingent Commander of Chammal’s operation and European maritime awareness Strait of Hormuz Operation Commander (EMASOH OPCDR).
