I THOUGHT THIS HAPPENED BACK IN THE 1990s

France didn't fully re-join NATO until 2009.

France Will Take Full NATO Membership Again, With Greater Military Role
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: March 11, 2009
NY Times

PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Wednesday that France intended to become a full member of NATO, 43 years after Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the alliance’s military command and threw NATO, and American forces, out of the country.

France is already a major contributor of money and troops to the alliance, but now it will reintegrate into NATO’s military command structure.

Several hundred French officers will take up NATO jobs, and France is expected to get two important commands: the Allied Command Transformation project in Virginia, examining a more modern alliance, and the regional command headquarters in Lisbon, which is in charge of NATO’s rapid response force.