Legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) were tasked with the protection of the Seine River during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. See some images.
40 years ago: Foreign Legion’s first engineering regiment was activated
40 years ago, in late June 1984, one of the largest companies of the then-French Army, CRTRLE, was disbanded. A road building unit comprising legionnaires, it was transformed the following day, July 1, into an engineer regiment, first Foreign Legion regiment to bear this designation. The new regiment quickly distinguished itself during deployments in Chad, Iraq, Cambodia, and the former Yugoslavia.
Read more40 years ago: Foreign Legion’s first engineering regiment was activated
Foreign Legion: 2024 Victory in Europe Day
On May 8, 2024, the French Foreign Legion units commemorated the 79th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The end of the war came after the signing of the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies in Berlin. See some images from the 2024 Victory in Europe Day celebrations.
13e DBLE, 1er REG: Ivory Coast 2023-2024
In February 2024, men of the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) and the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) returned from West Africa’s Ivory Coast. They were deployed there for four months.
1er REG: 2nd Company at Mont Ventoux
The 2nd Company of the French Foreign Legion’s 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) made a joint trip to reach the summit of Mont Ventoux, the highest mountain in the Provence region of Southern France. See images.
VIDEO: 2024 1er REG, 2e REG Legionnaires
As the 40th anniversary of the activation of the French Foreign Legion’s first engineer regiment approaches in early July, the Legion has recently released a new official video clip to introduce viewers to its combat engineers of the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG).
1er REG, 2e REG: 2023 Saint Barbara Day
In early December 2023, French Foreign Legion combat engineers with the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG) and the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) commemorated once again their patron, Saint Barbara (Sainte Barbe in French).
1er REC, 2e REI, 1er REG: Exercise BIA 23
This week, on November 27, began an important tactical combined arms maneuver BIA 23 that takes place in the Marne Department in northeastern France, north of Camp Mailly. Organized by the 6th Light Armored Brigade (6e BLB), it is to be the very first French exercise involving a combined arms brigade of the modern SCORPION generation ready for an operational deployment. Among the participating units are the Foreign Legion’s 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC), 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e REI), and the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG).
1er REG: Exercise MILEX 23 in Spain
In late October 2023, the first-ever joint European Union military exercise took place. Held in Spain, and carried completely outside NATO structures, the exercise involved units of the European Union’s member states. Among them were also combat engineers from the Foreign Legion’s 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG). See images.
Foreign Legion: 2023 Armistice Day
In most English-speaking countries, November 11 is known as Veterans Day or Remembrance Day, honoring military veterans and those who have died in the line of duty. In France, this day is still known as Armistice Day, in memory of the 1918 armistice signed between the Allies and Germany that ended World War I. Since 2012, all those who died for France have also been commemorated during Armistice Day. The French Foreign Legion participates annually in those ceremonies. See images.
1er REG: New Caledonia in 2023
Since June 2023, three regiments of the French Foreign Legion had some of their legionnaires deployed to New Caledonia, a special overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia. Among them were men of the 1st Company, 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (1er REG). Before their departure back to France, they managed to improve their camp.