Air Parachute Commando No. 10 | |
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Commando parachutiste de l'air no 10 | |
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Active | June 1, 1956 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | French Air and Space Force |
Type | Special Forces |
Role | Special Reconnaissance Unorthodox warfare Counterterrorism |
Part of | Special Operations Command |
Garrison/HQ | Orléans – Bricy Air Base |
Patron | Saint Michael |
Motto(s) | Sicut aquila Like an eagle |
Engagements | Algerian War War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
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Decorations | Cross for Military Valour |
The Air Parachute Commando No. 10 (CPA 10), is a French special forces unit of the French Air and Space Force and is attached to the Special Operations Command. [1] [2] It is currently headquarterd in Air Base 123. [3] The unit specialises in Counterterrorism, Unorthodox warfare, Special Reconnaissance, Combat Search and Rescue and Aerial guidance (JTACs). [1]
In 1935, the Soviets carried out the first parachute drops with their equipment and support materials and France, interested by this mode of deployment, sent three officers for training in the Soviet Union in order to familiarize themselves with the parachuting techniques and equipment used by the USSR. [4]
The CPA 10 was officially established on June 1, 1956, and upon its formation, took part in the Algerian War. [5] [6]
On January 1, 1994, the CPA 10 was integrated into France's Special Operations Command. [6]
CPA took part in the War in Afghanistan with one of its most notable operations being "Operation Blacksmith Hammer". [7] [8]
Since early 2013 (January), the French Armed Forces including CPA 10 have been active in the Mali War with operations "Serval" and "Barkhane". A notable battle in this conflict was the battle of Timetrine, where CPA 10 commandos alongside other units enganged and took out an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb commander "Mohamed Lemine Ould El-Hassen". [9] [10]
During the 2018 Ouagadougou attacks the CPA 10 ensured the protection of both the French embassy in Burkina Faso and the Burkinabe Armed Forces General Staff. [9]
The French Armed Forces are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military reserve force. As stipulated by France's constitution, the president of France serves as commander-in-chief of the French military. France has the eighth largest defence budget in the world and the second largest in the European Union (EU). It also has the largest military by size in the EU.As of 2021, the total active personnel of the French Armed Forces is 270,000. While the reserve personnel is 63,700, for a total of 333,000 personnel. If we include the active personnel of the National Gendarmerie, the total men power of all the French Armed Forces combined is 435,000 strong. A 2015 Credit Suisse report ranked the French Armed Forces as the world's sixth most powerful military.
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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.
The French Air and Space Force is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air Force. On 10 September 2020, it assumed its current name, the French Air and Space Force, to reflect an "evolution of its mission" into the area of outer space.
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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.
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The units and formations of the French Army which fought in the Algerian War changed over time.
The Air Forces Command is a command of the French Air and Space Force. It is headquartered at Bordeaux-Mérignac Air Base.
Between October 26 and November 8, 2014, French forces of Operation Barkhane launched an offensive against jihadists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Dine in the area of Ametettai, rural Kidal Region. It was dubbed Operation Tudelle by French authorities.