A few years earlier, an initial memorandum of understanding was signed on 23 September 1982 on the corvette MontcalmCharles Hernu and Alain Savary, in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces and the Chiefs of Staff of each army. As the preamble to the protocol states "Education is a global act that cannot be reduced to school activities, and the spirit of defence is a civic attitude that is not limited to military activities". This statement directly echoes the policy of opening up regional sessions. representatives of primary, secondary and technical education. A decentralised organisation at academy level was planned under the authority of a rector, assisted by the territorial military authority and the president of the regional IHEDN association. In the months that followed, this system provoked a strong reaction on the left. The danger of young people becoming recruited was pointed out, as was the danger of mixing the two. "Alain Rémond questioned "Is the school the antechamber of the barracks? Télérama... A mobilisation that is undoubtedly not unrelated to the poor results recorded in the years that followed.
The scheme was relaunched in 1987. Three committees were reactivated, as Louis Quinio, then President of the UA-IHEDN, would recall: "A, for educational documents; B, for teacher training in defence matters; and C, on the teaching of defence at school". In an important innovation, the UA-IHEDN was asked to get involved and Quinio became co-chairman of the third group. This involvement of former auditors was probably to play an important role in the actual launch of the system. It enabled the two sides to move away from the tête-à-tête between National Education and Defence and to respond to the accusation that the school was being militarised, since the majority of former auditors were civilians.
The reports drawn up by each committee were presented on 8 December 1987. They proposed an "original organisation, decentralised to the academies, involving the three authorities, the rector, the territorial military commander and the president of the regional IHEDN association. Each appoints a representative to be responsible for implementing training initiatives. These three representatives make up the "academic trinomial" based on three principles: the notion of defence taken in its global sense (military, civil and economic), active participation by associations of former IHEDN auditors, and decentralisation to the level of the academies. A general programme of twenty-eight themes has been drawn up. It deals with geopolitics and global defence, both civil and military. Lectures will be given by specialised professors, active or reserve officers, civil servants and volunteer [former] IHEDN auditors".
From 15 to 20 February 1988, the twenty-five initial trinomials were brought together for a training course. During the following school year, 53 operations were carried out, giving rise to 84 conferences and involving 2,643 teachers. In 1995-1996, 96 operations took place, with 292 conferences and 106 visits, benefiting 4,000 teachers in total. In the meantime, a new protocol was signed in 1989 and again in 1995. This will subsequently be updated on a ten-yearly basis (2007, 2016). Conceived at the time of the Cold War, the trinomials will have seen their raison d'être strengthened by its end, which led to the suspension of conscription, decided in 1996 and effective in 2001.
