The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion remains its only airborne unit and, most probably, the best-known regiment of the Legion. During its campaigns in Asia, Africa or Europe, the famous 2e REP gained 10 unit citations, mentioned in the order of the Army. Because of this, the 2e REP legionnaires are allowed to bear two Fourrageres, in colors of the Legion of Honor and the Military Valor.
2e REP: 2016 Change of Command
On July 22, 2016, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), the French Foreign Legion unit based on the island of Corsica, saw the Change of Command ceremony. It took place at Camp Raffalli, the HQ of the 2e REP located near the town of Calvi.
Corsica 2016: Bear Grylls with the real French Foreign Legion
Ed “Bear” Grylls is a British adventurer, writer and television presenter, well-known for his Born Survivor/Man vs. Wild survival television series. Bear Grylls is also involved in a TV show titled Escape to the Legion, in which he and other “recruits” took part in basic desert training of a fictional Foreign Legion. But in recent weeks, Bear Grylls met with real legionnaires (paratroopers from the 2e REP) when he made the latest episode of NBC’s Running Wild TV show on the island of Corsica.
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2e REP: Mud REP 2016
On April 30, 2016, legionnaires from the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), the unit based on the island of Corsica, commemorated the 153rd Anniversary of the Battle of Camerone. Before the Camerone Day, several challenges were conducted by the regiment. Among them, Mud REP.
38th Anniversary of the Battle of Kolwezi
On 17 May 1978, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion was put on alert to get involved in an emergency operation in Kolwezi, an important mining center located in the Katanga province of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the second largest country of Africa.
Foreign Legion: Camerone Day 2016
Every year, the French Foreign Legion commemorates the anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the most famous event in its history. Also in 2016, on April 30, Camerone Day, the officers, NCOs and legionnaires of the Foreign Legion commemorated the 153rd Anniversary of the battle. See Camerone Day videos from several Legion regiments.
34th anniversary of the Mont Garbi accident
February 3. This day marks the 34th anniversary of the Mont Garbi accident, in which 29 members of the French Foreign Legion were killed, including a whole platoon of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP). The accident occurred in Djibouti, Africa. For the Legion, the 3rd February 1982 remains the most tragic day since the end of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954).
2e REP: 5th Combat Company established
On the evening of 15 December 2015, a ceremony took place at Camp Raffalli, the base of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) placed near Calvi, Corsica. The ceremony marked the establishment of 5th Company.
French Foreign Legion: New units establishing
While the year of 2014 was marked by reorganization of the French Army with reducing its personnel and several unit dissolutions, including combat units within the Foreign Legion (e.g. 5th Squadron of 1er REC, 5th Company of 2e REI), the current year of 2015 is significant by reverse policy actions – increasing personnel serving in the French Army and (re-)creating the new combat units.
Documentary 2015: Foreign Legion – For adventure and for France
Watch an interesting, professional 2015 documentary about the French Foreign Legion created by M6, a private national French TV channel as a part of their Zone Interdite documentary series. The documentary shows two sides of the Legion. The first side represents enlisting volunteers and their way from joining in the Legion in Aubagne, through basic training at a farm of the 4e RE, till obtainig the famous Képi blanc (White kepi). The second one represents 2e REP legionnaires during an operation in the Sahara of northern Niger.
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Armistice of 11 November 1918 Commemoration
On November 11, the French commemorate the Armistice of 11 November 1918, an agreement between the Allies and Germany during the First World War, that ended the fights on the Western Front. This day, the French also celebrate commemorate their fallen soldiers, mort pour la France during the conlict.