1er REG: 2nd Company returned from French Guiana | French Foreign Legion Information

On January 11, 2022, the 2nd Company of the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) finished their four-month deployment in French Guiana, South America and returned to France.

The 1er REG legionnaires deployed to French Guiana in early September 2021 to reinforce the 9e RIMa (Infantry Marine), a regiment sharing this French overseas territory with the Foreign Legion’s 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (3e REI). The 2nd Company, 1er REG thus formed the 3rd Company, 9e RIMa, a military engineering unit of the regiment that is based in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana.

In French Guiana, the 1er REG legionnaires participated in Operation Harpie, a joint operation launched in 2008. The operation is aimed at clandestine gold miners – coming from Brazil and Suriname – who destroy the local Amazonian rainforest.

In 2021, legionnaires from the same 2nd Company, 1er REG were shipped overseas to take part in Exercise Arc-21 in Japan.

Currently, another unit of the 1er REG – 1st Company – is ready to deploy overseas. The latter will move to West Africa to support Operation Barkhane in the Sahel.

1er REG: 2nd Company in French Guiana 2021-2022

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