Action Division

Last updated

The Action Division (French : Division Action), commonly known by its predecessor's title Action Service (French : Service Action) is a division of France's Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) responsible for planning and performing clandestine and covert operations including black operations. The core specialisations of the Action Division are sabotage, destruction of materiel, assassination, detaining/kidnapping, interrogation with and without using torture, infiltration/exfiltration of persons into/from hostile territory and hostage rescue.

Contents

The division also fulfils other security-related roles including testing the security of strategic sites, for example nuclear power plants and military facilities such as the submarine base of the Île Longue, Bretagne. Organization Within the Action Division there are three separate groups,

The service's headquarters are located at the fort of Noisy-le-Sec. It replaced the Service Action of the SDECE in 1971.

Organisation

The current action division originated from the SDECE's action service (Service Action or SA. Service Action is still commonly used). The action division has a "pool" of paramilitary operatives coming mainly from the French Army, often at least from the paras, and some from special forces. Since the early 1980s, the service action has been divided into three main parts: commandos, combat divers and air support.

The commandos were originally chunked in the "11e Choc" (11e Bataillon Parachutiste de Choc, 11th Shock Parachutist Battalion, later 11th Shock Parachutist Demi-Brigade), created in 1946. The 11e Choc was disbanded in 1963 because its officers were suspected to be French Algeria supporters. Consequently, its missions were partly given to military special forces units, especially the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment. After the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985, the "11e Choc" was re-raised in 1985 as the 11th Shock Parachutist Regiment. The unit was disbanded in 1993 among other various changes of French armed forces following the end of the cold war.

DGSE operatives are since based in three "training centres" which compose the Centre d'Instruction des Réservistes Parachutistes (CIRP, "Paratrooper Reservist Instruction Centre"):

Commando Hubert originally included servicemen from both French Navy and Army. The unit soon split in two, the army soldiers being transferred to the Centre d'Instruction des Nageurs de Combat (CINC, Combat Divers Training Centre, nicknamed Ajax) assigned to "11e Choc". In the aftermath of the disastrous Rainbow Warrior affair, the CINC was officially disbanded, and the DGSE combat divers were transferred in the CPEOM. Commando Hubert remains as the combat diver component of the French naval special operation forces, the Commandos Marine.

The air support of DGSE operations is provided by a French Air Force unit, the Groupe Aérien Mixte 00.056 (GAM 56) "Vaucluse", heir of a Free French Forces special duties flight. [1] This unit received the Croix de la Valeur Militaire with bronze palms on 1 June 2012, for having "particularly distinguished itself in a number of very sensitive recent engagements". [2]

Furthermore, the naval ship Alizé can provide support from the Navy to the benefit of the DGSE. [2]

History

SDECE

After the Second World War, Colonel Jacques Morlanne used a list of former SOE operatives to create a "Service Action" for the SDECE. [3] In 1947, Morlanne sent captain Edgar Mautaint at Montlouis to create the 11e bataillon parachutiste de choc. In July 1947, Paul Aussaresses took over command of the battalion and started training his men in "carrying out what was then called 'psychological warfare', everywhere where necessary, and notably in Indochina (...) I prepared my men for clandestine operations, airborne or otherwise, which could range from exploding buildings, sabotage or elimination of enemies... a little bit like what I had learnt in England." [4]

According to Constantin Melnik, then supervisor of secret services for Michel Debré, in 1960 alone, the Service Action killed 135 people, sank six ships and destroyed two aeroplanes. [5]

Directors

The action division's directors were:

Sources and references

  1. ↑ Le GAM 56 sur le site du ministère de la Défense Archived July 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  2. 1 2 (in French) Jean-Dominique Merchet, La Valeur Militaire pour le GAM 56, les "ailes" de la DGSE Archived June 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ French Ministry of Defence, Defence Historical Service, Département de l'innovation technologique et des entrées extraordinaires, Bureau des témoignages oraux, Histoire orale. Inventaire analytique de la sous-série 3K Archived October 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , (in French) tome III, par Sébastien Laurent, Hervé Lemoine, Marilyne Morais, Stéphane Simmonet, Guillaume Zeller. Château de Vincennes, 2005. p.137
  4. ↑ Interview with Marie-Monique Robin quoted in Escadrons de la Mort, l'École française, 2008, chap. IV, p.49
  5. ↑ 135 personnes éliminées par le SDECE en 1960, (in French) L'Humanité , 20 January 1996
  6. ↑ Frederick Forsyth
  7. ↑ https://www.theage.com.au/culture/books/you-see-the-worst-of-human-nature-former-spy-jack-beaumont-20240101-p5euhy.html [ bare URL ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paratrooper</span> Military parachutists functioning as part of an airborne

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 airdropped together into the combat zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directorate-General for External Security</span> Frances external intelligence agency

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commandos Marine</span> Special operations forces of the French Navy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">11th Parachute Brigade (France)</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment</span> Airborne unit of the French Army

The 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment is an airborne infantry unit of the French Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment</span> Military unit

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Sassi</span>

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commando Parachute Group</span> Military unit

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.

<i>11<sup>e</sup> régiment parachutiste de choc</i> Elite French regiment

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of the French Army at the end of the Cold War</span> Of the French Army at the end of the Cold War

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 Division Daguet was a French Army division formed in September 1990 in Saudi Arabia as part of France's contribution to Operation Desert Shield. The French military contribution to the allied cause to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation was named Opération Daguet and its ground part was subsequently named Division Daguet. In French "Daguet" is a young brocket deer.

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parachute Commando Regiments</span> Algerian military unit

The Parachute Commandos Regiments (RPC) are Algerian parachute regiments.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.