You really wanna know, right?
Born in 1977 in (West) Berlin to a French father and a German mother, I like to call myself a child of the Cold War. My father worked as civilian personnel at Quartier Napoléon, the French headquarters in Berlin. We had a special license plate and, when traveling to West Germany to visit relatives, we had to use specific border crossings controlled by Soviet forces. In 1989, I witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and, in 1990, the peaceful reunification of East and West Germany.
I suppose I inherited a few “military vibes” from my father’s side of the family — my grandfather, Jacques Florentin, was a Companion of the Liberation during World War II — so it seemed only natural that I would pursue an officer’s career. After finishing school, I joined the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) as an officer cadet. From 1996 to 2013, I served actively, first as a Panzergrenadier officer, later as an IT officer and staff officer in the Bundeswehr’s IT branch.
Deployments
- 2002: Task Force Prizren, Kosovo
- 2005: Provincial Reconstruction Team Kunduz, Afghanistan
- 2012: NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan (NTM-A), Kabul
Looking back, these missions — as well as my role as CIS Company Commander of the multinational brigade at HQ EUROCORPS — were the most formative, intense, and rewarding periods of my military career.
From Uniform to Cloud
In 2013, I left the Bundeswehr for family reasons under a funded transition program and began studying Business Informatics, graduating with a B.Sc. at the end of 2016. After two years as an Information Security Consultant (#ISMS, #ISO27001), I joined Volkswagen, where I first came into contact with cloud technologies.
Today
It’s now 2025 — and once again, it’s time to shoulder my kit bag and move on from Volkswagen, as I no longer see my vision for further education and my idea of meaningful, value-driven work being fulfilled there.
I am currently preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam to establish a solid foundation for the “Cloud Security battlefield.” My goal is to pass the certification successfully in December. I consider myself curious and eager to learn, always seeking meaningful and diverse tasks. Routine and monotony, on the other hand, quickly make me move on. In the future, I aim to work flexibly and remotely — commuting daily to the same facility has become unthinkable to me. Perhaps next year I’ll move to the coast, and nothing should hold me back from doing so. True to the motto: Mais je dis que c’est folie d’être enchaîné plus longtemps — in the figurative sense.
Personal Life
I currently live in Wolfsburg with my wife (my second marriage). Always by our side is Charlie, an Australian Shepherd who has brought joy to our lives since the start of the COVID pandemic. From my first marriage, I have two adult daughters who are confidently making their own way in life.
In my free time, I enjoy studying military history, particularly the Napoleonic Wars. At the moment, I am engrossed in reading about Austria’s daring — even audacious — attempt in 1809 to free itself from France’s dominance in Europe. I also collect and paint miniatures, both fantasy and historical (#Warhammer Fantasy, #Black Powder, #Hail Caesar). When time allows, I enjoy a relaxed tabletop game such as Conquest – The Last Argument of Kings.
