Matthieu Poncelin de Raucourt, commander of Crew A of the Champlain

During the 24 months of command of CC Sylvain Nicollet, the sailors of Crew A of the Champlain participated in particular in several supply missions to the Îles Éparses and maritime surveillance missions focused on fisheries policing and the fight against drug trafficking, notably with a record seizure of more than 1,600 kg of methamphetamine last February. Additionally, several joint exercises were conducted with the various units of the Forces armées de la zone sud de l'océan Indien (FAZSOI). Originally from Versailles, CC Matthieu Poncelin de Raucourt entered the École navale in 2011, where he chose to serve in the submarine forces, which he joined after two years of service on the public service patrol vessel (PSP) Flamant in Cherbourg. He began his career as a submariner in 2016 on the SNA Saphir, then on the SNA Casabianca. After a year of training at the École des Systèmes de Combat et Armes Navals (ESCAN), he returned to the escadrille des sous-marins nucléaires d'attaque (ESNA) and served for two years as watch leader on the SNA Rubis, as head of the Weapons department and then head of the underwater warfare (LSM) department. He then carried out three operational deterrence patrols aboard a ballistic missile submarine (SNLE). He joined the SNA Émeraude as deputy commander for operations in 2023, where he carried out numerous intelligence gathering missions. Married and the father of five children, CC Matthieu Poncelin de Raucourt has accumulated 11,000 hours of diving and completed 8 cycles on submarines.