2e REP: Diamond Strike 23 in Australia | French Foreign Legion Information

In late June 2023, a platoon of the Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) was detached to the Australia Army’s 7th Brigade to participate in Exercise Diamond Strike. Learn more and see some images.

The platoon is part of a 2e REP company which is currently deployed to New Caledonia, a special overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia. In mid-June, the company replaced their comrades there from the 2nd “Mountain” Company, 2e REP.

Detached to Australia, the 2e REP platoon was assigned to the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), a mechanised infantry battalion of the 7th Brigade. The unit was a main base for constituting the Battle Group Heeler, a combined arms team which integrated the French legionnaires and also Japanese elements. As a matter of interest, it was for the very first time when the Japanese soldiers participated in a joint exercise on an Australian land.

As for Exercise Diamond Strike 23, it lasted from June 24 to July 3 and integrated different battle groups, with soldiers from Australia, France, Fiji, Tonga, the US and Japan. The drills took place at the Field Training Area near Townsville, a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. They focused on combined-arms training, learning from each other and building upon their collective capabilities, as well as preparing for two-week Exercise Talisman Sabre. The latter was also held in Australia, from late July to early August, and became one of the world’s largest joint military drills with over 30,000 participants from 13 nations involved.

See some images of the 2e REP platoon during Diamond Strike 23 in Australia:

2e REP - Foreign Legion - Australia - Diamond Strike 23 - 2023 — 2e REP platoon assigned to the mechanized infantry battalion in Australia, June 2023.

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