From 1977 to 1991, he served as a fighter pilot both in France (in Cambrai, Dijon and Orange) and, from 1981 to 1984, in a West German Luftwaffe unit.

In 1988, he assisted the Greek Air Force in converting its first unit equipped with the Mirage 2000.

[2] Gen. Stéphane Abrial received appointment by the North Atlantic Council as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation on 29 July 2009, the first European to be appointed permanently as head of a NATO strategic command.

[3] Since July 2015, Abrial has been senior executive vice president of international and public affairs of Safran.

[9] Since February 2014, Abrial has also been chairman of the board of directors of the Musée de l’air et de l’espace Paris, since April 2013, director of the Atlantic Council, and, since December 2013, member of the advisory board of the Aspen Institute France.