I am very well acquainted with our naval doctrine, especially during the Reagan years when I was on active duty. Sorry if I offended you - I have French military friends, and they take more heat than they deserve. They are quite capable and willing to project what power they have in their national (as well as NATO) interests. Outside of NATO, what they do is their business.
Frankly, outside of NATO, their ‘business’ is tending to he relics of a colonial era in Africa, and selling weapons to the middle east.
I see your personal interest lies in your friendship with a few members of the French military. That is anecdotal. They may be fine people and great soldiers/sailors...but that has absolutely nothing to do with their nation’s military capabilities. They quite simply don’t have enough fuelers to conduct large scale air operations abroad, don’t have enough air lift to move a measureable amount of people or equipment into a theater abroad, and (as are other NATO nations) very dependent on the US for targeting and command and control. Again, its just the way it is.