General Christian Piquemal, who commanded the French Foreign Legion from 1994 to 1999, died on October 23, 2026, at the age of 85. A funeral Mass was held on October 30 at the Church of Saint-Sauveur in Aubagne, the Legion’s main garrison town. In accordance with his final wishes, his ashes are to be laid to rest in the Legion veterans’ communal vault at the Foreign Legion Institution for Disabled Veterans (IILE) in Puyloubier.
2e REP: 2026 Saint Michael’s Day
On September 29, 2026, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) of the French Foreign Legion celebrated Saint Michael’s Day, honoring the archangel who is the patron saint of all French paratroopers. This year, the regiment left its home base at Calvi and took the celebration into the mountains of Corsica.
Foreign Legion: 2026 Changes of Command in Five Regiments
In summer 2026, the French Foreign Legion saw five changes of command at the regimental level, reflecting the French Army’s regular two-year command rotation cycle. These changes affected units stationed in metropolitan France and overseas, including some of the Legion’s most prominent operational formations.
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An Italian Legionnaire’s Photo Journey Through the Legion, 1987–1992
Summer is traditionally a quiet season for Legion news, but a nice photo slideshow is well worth a look while things wind down. Posted on YouTube by an Italian former legionnaire, the video takes viewers through his five years of service in the French Foreign Legion, from August 1987 to August 1992, most of it spent with the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP).
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Foreign Legion: 2026 Bastille Day
July 14 marks France’s national holiday, Bastille Day. Beyond the main military parade in Paris, where the French Foreign Legion was represented once again this year, Legion units also take part in local celebrations held across the country and in France’s overseas territories.
2e REP: 2026 Summer Exhibition in Calvi
From June 29 to August 28, 2026, the Citadel of Calvi in Corsica will once again host its annual public exhibition dedicated to the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP).
2e REP: Exercise Libecciu 2026
From May 11 to 20, 2026, Exercise Libecciu 2026 took place across several regions of western and central France, primarily in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Centre-Val de Loire. The exrcise was conducted by the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), an elite airborne regiment of the Foreign Legion. Based at Calvi, Corsica, it serves as one of the French Army’s rapid-response units.
Foreign Legion: 2026 Victory in Europe Day
On May 8, 2026, French Foreign Legion units commemorated the 81st anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, marking the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied forces in 1945. As every year, legionnaires took part in ceremonies held both in France and overseas to honor the veterans and fallen soldiers of the conflict.
Foreign Legion: 2026 Camerone Day
On April 30, 2026, the French Foreign Legion observed the 163rd anniversary of the Battle of Camerone, the legendary action that forged the Legion’s identity and esprit de corps. On that day in Mexico in 1863, a company of 62 legionnaires led by Captain Jean Danjou stood against some 2,000 Mexican soldiers. The legionnaires refused to surrender and fought until only three of them remained standing. As every year, the anniversary was commemorated across all Legion units and garrisons, in France and abroad. Below are images from several of these ceremonies.
55 Years Ago: A Campaign Ended in Africa
55 years ago, in late 1970, the last men of the French Foreign Legion returned from Central Africa, where they had been deployed as part of Operation Limousin in Chad – the first French operation of this scale since the end of the Algerian War. For the Legion, playing the leading role, it confirmed its ability to conduct prolonged interventions far from its bases, under demanding conditions and with limited resources. This website is the first medium, in France and beyond, to offer a complete and detailed study of the Legion’s involvement in this campaign.
2e REP: 3rd Company in New Caledonia from 2025 to 2026
Since October 2025, the 3rd Company of the French Foreign Legion’s 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) has been deployed to New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the Pacific, on a Short-Term Mission (Mission de Courte Durée, MCD).
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