In late October 2020, the French Foreign Legion’s commander-in-chief, General Alain Lardet, came to visit the cavalrymen from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) at their Camp Carpiagne near Marseille and combat engineers from the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) at their base in Laudun.
1er REC: Complete again after 11 months
At Camp Carpiagne in early September 2020, the officers and legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), the French Foreign Legion’s only cavalry unit, attended a regimental gathering to celebrate their regained unity, after 11 months of deployments.
Foreign Legion: Old documentaries – 1er RE, 13e DBLE, 1er REC, 2e REI
If you are interested in the French Foreign Legion, you can watch some rare and interesting French documentaries from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, recently posted on YT, showing the then Legion and legionnaires.
Read moreForeign Legion: Old documentaries – 1er RE, 13e DBLE, 1er REC, 2e REI
Operation Barkhane: Immersion in the three-border region
See the French Army’s nice report on Foreign Legion military activities in the important three-border region of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, situated in the Sahel area of West Africa, around April-May 2020, aimed at local armed terrorist groups (GAT).
Read moreOperation Barkhane: Immersion in the three-border region
1er REC: Activities for 3rd ESC and ECL in France in June 2020
While the vast majority of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) has been currently deployed to Mali in West Africa since this February for at least four months, there are two squadrons which remain in France, at the regiment’s Camp Carpiagne near Marseille.
Read more1er REC: Activities for 3rd ESC and ECL in France in June 2020
1er REC: Legionnaire heading an armored platoon during Operation Barkhane in Mali
Adjudant Franc from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), the only cavalry regiment of the French Foreign Legion, is currently deployed to Mali (West Africa). He and his men operate within Operation Barkhane, a French counter-terrorism operation in the Sahel region of Africa. Having passed 16 years with the Foreign Legion, he is now a respected platoon leader.
Read more1er REC: Legionnaire heading an armored platoon during Operation Barkhane in Mali
1er REC: Bidding a final farewell to two legionnaires killed in Mali in May 2020
On May 8, 2020, a ceremony took place at Camp Carpiagne in southern France to bid a final farewell to the two legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) who were killed in Mali.
Read more1er REC: Bidding a final farewell to two legionnaires killed in Mali in May 2020
Operation Barkhane: A legionnaire died
On April 23, during Operation Barkhane, a military tanker of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) was struck by an improvised explosive device near Gao in Mali, West Africa. Two legionnaires were seriously imjuried. One of them died a week later, on May 1.
2020 Operation Monclar in the Sahel
In March 2020, a three-week military operation to search and neutralize terrorist elements took place in the three-border area of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Two Foreign Legion task forces were involved in the operation in this deserted land.