Between late January and mid-February 2023, men of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI) were going through a tough training in the Creuse department in Central France, culminating in an open field exercise. See images.
On January 30, Colonel Vacina and half of his regiment – around 600 officers and legionnaires – began their training at the camp of La Courtine, a military training area in Central France (the camp is well-known to the Legion, it was renovated and modernized by the 61e BMGL in the early 1980s). Their goal was to perfect maneuvers, movements, and combat techniques in preparation for future overseas operations, as well as adoption of the brand-new SIC-S information system equipping their new VBMR Griffon vehicles. Among the men were also the SAED commandos and elite snipers.
On Saturday of February 11, during a decent ceremony in the village of Crocq, nine legionnaires of the regiment were naturalized and became French citizens.
The next day, on February 12, the 2e REI legionnaires deployed for 96 hours outside the military area, to the border region of the Creuse and Puy-de-Dôme departments, and conducted an open field exercise in real conditions here, in inhabited local towns and villages (20 communes altogether) and the immediate surroundings. They carried out infantry missions alongside 22 of their Griffon armored cars, with the support of the Mirage aircraft of the French Air Forces.
The exercise ended on February 15 and the next day, the legionnaires returned to Nimes, their garrison town in Southern France.
PHOTOS: 2023 Exercise at Camp La Courtine
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PHOTOS: 2023 Exercise at Camp La Courtine
PHOTOS: Naturalization Ceremony in Crocq
PHOTOS: 2023 Exercise in Creuse and Puy-de-Dôme
PHOTOS: 2023 Exercise in Creuse and Puy-de-Dôme
PHOTOS: 2023 Exercise in Creuse and Puy-de-Dôme
Another link with nice images from the exercise: La Légion étrangère à l’exercice en Creuse
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Related posts:
2e REI: 2022 Activities in Djibouti
2e REI, 13e DBLE: 2022 Bastille Day in Nimes, Rodez
2e REI: A detachment to train with U.S. Marines in California
PHOTOS: 2nd Foreign Regiment’s Color Guard in the early 1900s