A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infantry armed with small arms and light weapons, although some paratroopers can also function as artillerymen or mechanized infantry by utilizing field guns, infantry fighting vehicles and light tanks that are often used in surprise attacks to seize strategic positions behind enemy lines such as airfields, bridges and major roads.
The Directorate-General for External Security is France's foreign intelligence agency, equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA, established on 2 April 1982. The DGSE safeguards French national security through intelligence gathering and conducting paramilitary and counterintelligence operations abroad, as well as economic espionage. It is headquartered in the 20th arrondissement of Paris.
The Commandos Marine, nicknamed Bérets Verts, are the special operation forces (SOF) of the French Navy, headquartered in Lorient, Brittany in western France. They operate under the Special Operations Command (COS), FORFUSCO, one of the four main forces of the French Navy or any operational command designated by the French Army staff. They specialize in offshore operations; operations from sea to land and special operations on land. One of the major characteristics of marine commando units is to be perfectly interoperable with all the resources and units of the navy.
The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment is the only airborne regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is one of the four infantry regiments of the 11th Parachute Brigade and part of the spearhead of the French rapid reaction force.
The 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment or 1er RPIMa is a unit of the French Army Special Forces Command, therefore part of the Special Operations Command.
The structure of the French Army is fixed by Chapter 2 of Title II of Book II of the Third Part of the Code of Defense, notably resulting in the codification of Decree 2000-559 of 21 June 2000.
The 11th Parachute Brigade is one of the French Army's airborne forces brigade, predominantly light infantry, part of the French paratrooper units and specialized in air assault, airborne operations, combined arms, and commando style raids. The brigade's primary vocation is to project in emergency in order to contribute a first response to a situational crisis. An elite unit of the French Army, the brigade is commanded by a général de brigade with headquarters in Balma near Toulouse. The brigade's soldiers and airborne Marines wear the red beret (amaranth) except for the Legionnaires of the 2ème REP who wear the green beret.
The 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment is an airborne infantry unit of the French Army.
The 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment is an airborne regiment of the Troupes de Marine. The 8e RPIMa was created on 28 February 1951 and the men wear the red beret. It is part of the 11th Parachute Brigade.
Jean Sassi was a French Army colonel and intelligence service officer, former "Jedburgh" (BCRA) of France and Far East. Commando chief of the SDECE's 11th Shock Parachutist Regiment. Maquis chief in French Indochina through the GCMA (1953–1955).
Jean Marcellin Joseph Calixte Gilles was a French Army general who served in World War II and several colonial conflicts. A paratrooper, Gilles led the French defence during the Battle of Na San and the initial paratrooper landings at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu during the French Indochina War, as well as serving in Algeria. For near the entirety of his career he fought with a glass eye, having lost an eye at 18.
The Commando Parachute Group is a unit of elite pathfinders within the French Army's 11th Parachute Brigade. These pathfinders are paratroopers drawn from the various regiments of the brigade who then undertake GCP training and must pass various requirements. Referred to as "commandos paras", they numbered less than 250 men in 2015 out of the more than 8,000 paratroopers serving in the 11e BP. This unit doesn’t belong to French Special Forces but to 11 Parachute Brigade.
The 11e régiment parachutiste de choc, often called 11e choc, was an elite parachute regiment of the French Army. It used to serve as the armed branch of the SDECE. Its insignia, designed by lieutenant Dupas, features Bagheera in the moonlight and a golden wing. The motto is Qui ose gagne, in continuation of the tradition of the British Special Air Service.
The following is a hierarchical outline for the French Land Army at the end of the Cold War. It is intended to convey the connections and relationships between units and formations. The theoretical combat strength of the army was 295,989 soldiers, of the 557,904 individuals available for service across the entire French Armed Forces in 1989.
The National Centre for Commando Training, is a French Army training centre. It is a centre d'aguerrissement located in Mont-Louis and Collioure in the Pyrenees-Orientales department, and is part of the Sous-direction formation et des écoles de la direction des ressources humaines de l'Armée de terre (DRHAT/SDFE).
The Parachute Commandos Regiments (RPC) are Algerian parachute regiments.