Antoine Pano

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General Antoine Pano was born on November 10, 1952 in Beirut. His 37-year military career started on October 1st 1973, when he joined the Military Academy as Cadet Officer. After his graduation as Second Lieutenant in 1976, General Pano held several leading positions in the army: in 1978, he served in the Defense Regiments that turned into 8th Brigade where he moved from Platoon Leader to Company Commander. He then served a one-year term in the Republican Guard before going back to the 8th Brigade as Battalion Commander, a position he held until 1990, when he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Intervention Regiment, that he had established, from 1991 to 1997.

In 1999, he was appointed Air-Assault Regiment Commander. He also held the position of Mount Lebanon State Security Regional Director from 2000 to 2006. In 2007, General Pano was appointed as Commander On –Site of the Nahr el Bared military operation against the terrorist al-Qaeda affiliate Fath el Islam that had taken control of the camp and attacked nearby Lebanese Army barracks. Despite limited military means, the operation was a success. On November 10, 2007, General Pano retired.

General Pano’s military career was far from being a non-eventful one, as he held leading positions in a number of local battles involving militias, armed groups, and foreign troops during the dark years of the war, as well as numerous operations against terrorist groups and peace-keeping missions.

Keen on personal development, General Pano followed a number of trainings overseas, including the Advanced Military Police course in Alabama- US (1983), the War Conflict and Humanitarian Law training in San Remo- Italy (1998), a course in Intelligence Service at the DGSE in France (2000) and a course in Managing the Intelligence service and its complications in Russia (2005).

Throughout his long career, General Pano received a large number of medals and was decorated numerous times, including: 9 times Lebanese Medal of War, the Lebanese Medal of the Wounded, the 1rst Degree National Oder of Merit, 20 times the congratulations of the Army Commander.

General Pano holds a BA in Geography from the Lebanese University and is married to Rima Karmisty with whom he has two sons, Elie and Nicolas. From serving the country in the Lebanese Armed forces, General Pano has taken it upon himself to continue to fight for Lebanon as a civilian from the political arena. He was elected as Member of Parliament representing the Beirut 1 District on May 6, 2018.