In September 2018, legionnaires of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) passed an Infantry Vehicle Commander-Gunner (CTVI) course in southern France to become commanders of the VBCI infantry vehicles the regiment uses now.
2e REI: El Moungar 2018
On September 2, 2018, the 115th anniversary of the famous Battle of El Moungar occurred. The battle took place at El Moungar, close to Taghit, in the Bechar region of western Algeria, on September 2, 1903. That day, the 22nd Mounted Company, 2e RE (2e REI now) were attacked by more than 2,000 Berbers.
Bastille Day Military Parade 2018
This Saturday, the French commemorated their National Day of the 14th July, called Bastille Day in the English-speaking world. As always since 1880, a large military parade in Paris occurred. Traditionally, the Bastille Day military parade took place on the Champs-Elysées, a well-known avenue in the 8th arrondissement. The Foreign Legion participated.
Legion: Training for 2018 Bastille Day Parade
As every year these days, members of the French Foreign Legion are training dutifully for the Bastille Day Military Parade, which will take place in Paris this Saturday, on July 14, 2018. Apart from Foreign Legion Pioneers and the Music Band, legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) and the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) will also participate in the parade.
2e REI: Four wounded legionnaires in Mali
Four legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) were badly wounded during a terrorist attack in Mali, West Africa. Their armored vehicle was hit by a suicide car loaded with explosives, driven by a member of the local JNIM group.
2e REI: U.S. Marines at Camp Garrigues 2018
In late May 2018, Marines from 1st Battalion, 6th Marines traveled to France for the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood (Bois-Belleau), which occurred near the Marne River in northern France between June 6-26, 1918, during World War I. In France, the Marines also visited Camp Garrigues near Nimes to conduct a firing exercise, with the help of legionnaires from the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI).
GOLE: 42nd anniversary of the deadly accident in the Horn of Africa
In late May 1976, during a military exercise in the then French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (TFAI, today’s Djibouti), a country located in the Horn of Africa, a French Army helicopter crashed. Eight men on board were killed, including six legionnaires from GOLE (Foreign Legion Task Force). At the time, the incident became the deadliest accident for the Legion since the end of the Algerian War (1962). It has still remained the second deadliest accident for the Legion since then. Nevertheless, for unknown reasons, the fatal crash has been completely forgotten in France.
2e REI: 4th Company in Martinique
In March 2018, legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) deployed to Martinique, an overseas region of France in the eastern Caribbean Sea.