 Gourvenec's deputy was Pierre Galopin.When the Chadian Civil War extended itself to the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti in 1968, the GNN found itself increasingly on the frontline against the insurgents.The final showdown between the insurgency and the Chadian Armed Forces came in 1977–78, when Goukouni Oueddei, leader of a FROLINAT faction, conquered all the government's strongholds in northern Chad, inflicting staggering losses to the armed forces; the GNN in particular lost heavily in early 1978 when Goukouni took Fada and the capital of the Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti, Faya-Largeau.