An alumnus of the Saint-Cyr special military school, he served for several years with the 2nd foreign parachute regiment, becoming its corps commander from 1996 to 1998.
After graduating from the Ecole de Guerre, he commanded a class of officer cadets at the Saint-Cyr special military school in Coëtquidan from 1989 to 1992, and spent several periods on staff. He also spent more than two years on operations in the former Yugoslavia (1994-1996) and Kosovo (1999).
Successively head of the CPCO (center for the planning and conduct of operations, 2002-2004), commander of special operations (2004-2007), deputy chief of operations at the Armed Forces General Staff (2007-2008), he was appointed director of military intelligence from 2008 to 2010.
He was appointed Chief of the Private Staff of the President of the Republic, and raised to the rank and title of Army General in March 2010. He successively served President Nicolas Sarkozy, then President Hollande, notably in the management of operations (Afghanistan, Libya, RCI, Mali, and CAR).
In September 2016, Army General Benoît Puga was appointed Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor and Chancellor of the National Order of Merit.
He is Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit. He holds the Croix de la valeur militaire with eight commendations.