French Foreign Legion information. An online project dedicated to the famous Foreign Legion.
In early February 1976, two French Foreign Legion units participated in an counterterrorism operation to rescue 31 French children kidnapped by Somali militants in the Horn of Africa. The extraordinary operation constitutes a significant episode in the history of the French Foreign Legion.
Read more50 Years Ago: The Foreign Legion’s First Counterterrorism Operation
In early March 2025, the 1st Squadron of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) successfully concluded its four-month mission within the 5th Overseas Combined Arms Regiment (5e RIAOM) in Djibouti, reinforcing France’s strategic commitment to stability in the Horn of Africa.
Legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) continue their mission in the Horn of Africa. See images.
In early November 2024, the 1st Squadron of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), nicknamed as “Romans,” officially became the 3rd Squadron 5th Overseas Combined Arms Regiment (5e RIAOM). This French regiment is stationed in Djibouti, Horn of Africa. The Foreign Legion cavalrymen will serve there for at least three months.
In February 2024, the 4th Company of the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) deployed to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, a former homeland of this regiment. The company will remain there for four months.
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.
Since June 2022, a company of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) is deployed to Djibouti, Horn of Africa, to form part of the French garrison there. See some images of the unit’s activities…
Last week, several units of the French Foreign Legion landed in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa, for carrying out the usual mission to maintain order and a French presence in this former colony of Frence. Their mission would last four months.
Read more1er REC, 2e REI, 1er REG: A new mission in Djibouti from June 2022
This week, the 1st Company of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) is to return to Corsica from Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa, where the airborne legionnaires have spent four months.
40 years ago, in early February 1982, a common French military exercise was planned in Djibouti, a country in the Horn of Africa. A French Foreign Legion airborne platoon was to participate. The Legion paratroopers were ordered to carry out a routine training jump over a drop zone located nord-west of the capital. They boarded their aircraft and took off…
45 years ago, in late May 1976, a helicopter transporting Foreign Legion elements crashed to the ground during a military exercise in the Horn of Africa. Six legionnaires died immediately; another two died from their injuries later. At the time, this was the deadliest day for the Legion since the end of the Algerian War in 1962. Although considerably forgotten these days, even in France, this sad event and its victims should be remembered.
Read moreForeign Legion: 45th anniversary of a deadly accident in the Horn of Africa