2e REG: Martinique in 2026 | French Foreign Legion Information

At the end of August 2026, the 2nd Company of the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) wrapped up a four-month deployment to Martinique, a French overseas region in the Caribbean, and traded the tropics for the high mountains of southeastern France, where the regiment is garrisoned at Saint-Christol. The company had arrived on the island in late April.

While in Martinique, the legionnaires served as the 1st Company of the 33rd Marine Infantry Regiment (33e RIMa), the unit permanently based in Fort-de-France, the island’s capital. Like other French overseas regiments, the 33e RIMa is built around units sent from mainland France. Alongside its headquarters company and two reserve companies of local personnel, its two line companies (1st and 2nd) are filled by mainland units taking turns on the island, usually four months at a time.

The regiment’s tasks run from maintaining order and a French presence across the Caribbean to reinforcing the garrison in neighboring French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Its soldiers also guard the Fort-de-France airport under Operation Sentinelle, the French anti-terrorist protection mission, and can be sent on short notice anywhere in the Caribbean. The 33e RIMa additionally runs the Aquatic & Forest Training Center (CNEF), the regional school for jungle and amphibious operations.

Despite the short duration of the deployment, the company carried out a broad range of tasks. It took part in CARAIBE 2026, an exercise in Martinique and on Saint-Martin rehearsing the military response to a natural disaster, and carried out Kanawa, a sovereignty mission on the smaller islands of Guadeloupe, namely La Désirade and Terre-de-Bas. A demanding rotation at the CNEF earned the company the center’s high-level qualifications. The legionnaires also trained platoons of the Armed Forces of Haiti under Sabre, France’s military cooperation program with partner forces in the region.

Units of the 2e REG reinforce the Martinique garrison on a regular basis. The regiment’s 3rd Company came home from the same posting in February this year.

2e REG - Foreign Legion - Martinique - 2nd Company - 2026

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