In early August 2020, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, was affected by devastating explosions. The center of the capital was heavily damaged; over 200 people died, more than 6,000 were wounded. In response to the disaster, France sent an important aid and military assistance to Lebanon in mid-August, boarded on a French ship Tonnerre and several aircraft, as part of Operation Amitie (Operation Friendship).
1er REG + 2e REG: Mission in Beirut
To reply to the disaster in Beirut, the legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) were alerted and sent to the capital of Lebanon. They arrived there on August 13.
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 REG: Training for fresh legionnaires
In May 2020, fresh legionnaires recently arriving to the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) after their basic training at Castelnaudary, they took part in an initial regimental instruction at Camp Caylus in southern France.
1er REG + 1er REC: Deployments in 2020
Like the other regiments of the French Foreign Legion, even the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) are to be largely deployed overseas this year.
1er REG: A legionnaire “powerman” in Iraq
Corporal Pavel of the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG), one of the two engineer regiments of the French Foreign Legion, is currently deployed to Iraq, as part of Operation Chammal, a French military operation in Iraq and Syria. He serves as a skilful electrical mechanic.
1er REG + 2e REG: 2019 Saint Barbara Day
Within a week, in late November and early December 2019, the two engineer regiments of the French Foreign Legion organized an annual commemoration of their patron, Saint Barbara (Sainte Barbe in French). See photos.
2e REI + 1er REG + 1er REC: Training before deployment
In October-November 2019, a company from the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI), a company from the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and two squadrons of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) moved to military camps to participate in an intensive training before their overseas deployment. See images.
Read more2e REI + 1er REG + 1er REC: Training before deployment
Foreign Legion: 2019 Armistice Day
The 11th of November marks in France the Armistice Day, when the entire nation commemorate the end of hostilities of World War I. As every year, even the French Foreign Legion units commemorated the 101st Armistice Day on November 11, 2019, and remembered the 36,000 legionnaires and foreign volunteers being killed or wounded during the war. See the photos.