In 2018, the French Foreign Legion’s paratroopers commemorate the 70th anniversary of their service. In 1948, the first Legion paratroopers celebrated Saint Michael, their patron adopted by all French airborne units in Hanoi, the capital of then French Indochina in June 1948. 70 years later, the legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) celebrated Saint Michael Day (September 29th), their regimental holiday, by Lake Nino in Corsica. See some nice images.

In late September 2018, about 400 men of the 2e REP carried out a four-day march in high mountains of Corsica to keep cohesion and esprit de corps of the unit. Finishing their march by Lake Nino, they commemorated the already 70th Saint Michael Day of the Legion’s paratroopers.

At the same time, another half of the regiment is being deployed to Mali, a country in West Africa, to participate in anti-terrorist Operation Barkhane. An anti-rebel operational jump was conducted by 120 para-legionnaires in Mali at almost the same period as Saint Michael Day. On September 27, 2018, they jumped over the remote Menaka region (northeastern Mali) from two Transall C-160 and an Airbus A400M Atlas aircrafts. A few days before this operational jump, three French soldiers were wounded and twelve civilians were killed by local rebel groups there.

PHOTOS. 2e REP: 2018 Saint Michael Day in Corsica. Click on the FB icon to see all photos.

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Related posts:
2e REP: GCP jumping in Mali
2e REP: Mountain course in Corsica 2018
2e REP: 2018 Camerone Day Challenges
2e REP: Military training in late 2017