1er REC: 3rd Squadron in Djibouti in 2023 | French Foreign Legion Information

In early October 2023, the 3rd Squadron of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) arrived in Djibouti, Horn of Africa. The squadron would carry out its tasks there for the next four months.

Upon its arrival, the Legion cavalry unit was assigned to the 5th Overseas Combined Arms Regiment (5e RIAOM), a French overseas unit which had replaced the Foreign Legion’s 13th Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) as France’s main operational element in this small African country in 2011. The regiment, which has occupied the demi-brigade’s military base in Djibouti City, comprises an HQ and three combat units (infantry, cavalry, combat engineers-artillerymen). They consist of rotational personnel rotating every four months, coming from Mainland France. A French Army Light Aviation detachment is also assigned to the 5e RIAOM.

In Djibouti, apart from daily training, the regiment’s units carry out the usual tasks: familiarizing themselves with a semi-desert environment, maintaining a French presence in the region that once used to be a French colony, conducting military exercises with U.S. soldiers from the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, and providing military instruction to the local forces.

In early October, a detachment of the 3rd Squadron participated in a ceremony to commemorate the memory of the 13e DBLE.

The last time a 1er REC squadron was in Djibouti was last year: the 2nd Squadron, from June to October.

1er REC - Djibouti - 2023 — 3rd Squadron 1er REC cavalrymen with their fanion in Djibouti, early October 2023, during a ceremony to commemorate the 13e DBLE.

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