2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment

2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e Régiment étranger de parachutistes)
Badge of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment
Active	9 October 1948 – present
Country	France
Allegiance	French Foreign Legion
Branch	French Army
Type	Airborne Light Infantry
Role	Primary Tasks: • Air Assault Other Roles: • Urban Warfare (1 CIE) • Mountain warfare (2 CIE) • Amphibious warfare (3 CIE) • Sniping and Demolitions (4 CIE)
Size	1,190 men
Part of	11th Parachute Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Calvi, Corsica France
Nickname	The REP
Motto	Honneur et Fidélité (Honour and loyalty)
Colors	Green & Red
March	La Legion Marche (vers le front)
Anniversaries	Camerone Day (30 April), Saint-Michel Day (29 September)
Engagements	First Indochina War *Battle of Route Coloniale 4 *Battle of Hoa Binh *Battle of Na San *Battle of Dien Bien Phu Algerian War Battle of Kolwezi
Commanders
Current commander	Eric Bellot des Minieres
Notable commanders	Rémy Raffalli, Paul Arnaud de Foïard Philippe Erulin Alain Bouquin
Insignia
Badge of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment worn on Green Berets. This badge is also worn by French Army Paratroopers on Maroon Berets.
Abbreviation	2 REP

The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (French: 2ème Régiment Étranger de Parachutistes, 2e REP) is an airborne regiment of the French Foreign Legion, stationed at Camp Raffalli near the town of Calvi on the island of Corsica, just south of mainland France. It is part of the 11th Parachute Brigade^[1] and the spearhead of the French Rapid reaction force.^[1]

The initial four months at Camp Raffalli are spent on specialised and parachute training. Enhanced training and combat experience will be gained during the first year. Only after this does a Legionnaire properly earn his right in the 2ème REP. Once in the REP there is much emphasis on physical training and there are plenty of sportclubs on camp. There are many traditions in the regiment. For example, there are three roll calls a day. The first one in the morning, the second one after lunch and the last one at 2100 in the evening. Another tradition is that of a Legionnaire being confined in the island during the first year of his posting there. It is also tradition for the whole regiment to march across the island from one side to the other once a year. This is a distance of about 124 miles (200km).

The contract will last probably 2 years before being posted, but many choose to stay longer. The Regiment is frequently away on detachments, normally for four months at a time. Promotion is slow and courses are harder since the competition is tougher.

History

Indochina

As a consequence of the successes of the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion (1er BEP) in the First Indochina War, the 2nd Foreign Parachute Battalion (French: 2ème Battalion Étranger de Parachutistes, 2ème BEP) was formed on 9 October 1948, at Legion's main cantonment at Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria. The battalion was deployed to Indochina in January 1949, where they served as 'sector troops' from February to November.

In 1950, the battalion became a part of the General Reserve in Indochina. Following the French defeat on Route Coloniale 4 in October 1950, the battalion was transported by ship to North Vietnam. The battalion took part in several battles, including the first battle of Nghia Lo (October 1951), the Black River (November–December 1951), and the fight for Route Coloniale 6 (January–February 1952) during the Battle of Hoa Binh.

The battalion made a parachute drop on Dien Bien Phu as reinforcement during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (March–May 1954). Fighting without reinforcements, remnants of the 1er and 2e BEP were overwhelmed after a final assault by Viet Minh forces; fewer than 100 legionnaires of the 2e BEP were taken prisoner. On 1 December 1954, after the surviving members of the battalion had returned from captivity after the Armistice, the 2e BEP was later reconstituted with replacements, and returned by ship to French Algeria.

On 5 June 1956, the 2ème BEP was enlarged to a full regiment, and was redesignated the 2ème Régiment Étranger de Parachutistes (2ème REP), or 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment.

Zaire

In May 1978, a force of gendarmes katangais entered the Katanga province of Zaire from Angola and occupied the mining town of Kolwezi. They began to loot the town and kill government soldiers and civilians (including several Belgian and French employees of a mining company). At the request of the government of Zaire, 2 REP was airlifted to Kinshasa and dropped on Kolwezi. The operation was a success and the town was quickly recaptured with minor casualties in the ranks of the paratroopers. Some 120 civilian hostages died in the occupation.

Afghanistan

2e REP deployed to Afghanistan from January to July 2010, as part of Task Force "Altor". Two Legionnaires from the regiment were killed in action.

Selection

Selection for 2e REP takes 4 weeks. The first 2 weeks are physical tests across terrain. Parachute training takes place at Camp Raffalli and runs for 2 weeks with a total of 6 jumps.^[2][3]

2e REP is the only regiment of the Legion which trains its paratroopers. Indeed, the Legionnaires spend their parachute training in Calvi TAP within the walls of the regiment. All other Army units are trained at the École des troupes aéroportées (ETAP) in Pau. This is the ideal location of the Legion 2nd REP and specially that causes Legionnaires get their patent with them.

Every new legionnaire 2e REP password assigned to a TAP instruction compulsory. This training is called "promotion" or "the promo" that lasts 2 to 4 weeks depending on aircraft availability for the session jumping. When "the promotion" lasts two weeks, the first is devoted to instructions on the ground and the second of flight and jumping. In the event this training is extended for a week, they include the combat formation.

After spending basic training at Castelnaudary, the legionnaires are assigned to regiments of the Legion. Those who have the ability and chance after assignment to Aubagne are grouped by an NCO from Calvi, who is responsible for their recovery. Usually this is a monitor that will give them technical TAP instructions in "the promotion". After taking into account the legions of young legionnaire, a non-commissioned officer takes them on a ferry to Corsica. They are recovered by a bus in an island port.

The arrival at the barracks of the 2nd REP is on a Saturday morning. During the weekend, still under the command of the monitor, the new promo visit the Camp Raffalli Legionnaires and paratroopers museum. The first week of "promoting", the future legionnaire paratrooper passes a series of physical tests, tests TAP:

TAP1

• 4 fixed drawbar
• 15 bending arm (pumps)
• 40 abdominal
• 30 squats
• A string of 6 m (arms and legs)

TAP2

• 1500 m - race lattice and a backpack of 11kg in less than 9 minutes.
• 8000 m - race lattice and a backpack of 11kg in less than 60 minutes.

TAP3

• 10 m - apnea lattice and with headphones genau.
• 90 m - swimming at the end of apnea and in mesh with a helmet genau .

First week: ground training, parachute equipment, training of cables, ducts preparations.

Second week: flight phase, the first jump, with opening of second ventral, the other jumps up to the sixth, giving the issue, obtaining a patent para. The REP is the second regiment of the French army who jumps the highest. The average jump by legionnaire is 15 jumps per year.

Organization

Logos of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment.

The regiment is composed of around 1140 men organized into 9 companies.^[1]

• Compagnie de Commandement et de Logistique (CCL) - Command and Logistics Company^[4]
• Compagnie d'Administration et de Soutien (CAS) - Administrative and Support Company^[5]
• 1er CIE - 1st Company (specialises in Urban warfare^[6])^[7] (a command section and 4 combat sections)
• 2e CIE - 2nd Company (specialises in Mountain warfare^[8]) (a command section and 4 combat sections)
• 3e CIE - 3rd Company (specialises in Amphibious warfare^[9]) (a command section and 4 combat sections)
• 4e CIE - 4th Company (specialises in sniping and demolitions^[10]) (a command section and 4 combat sections)
• Compagnie d'Eclairage et d'Appui (CEA) - Reconnaissance & Support Company (recce, anti-tank ,sniper & pathfinder sections)^[11]
• 5e Compagnie de Maintenance (5e CM) - 5th Maintenance Company (formed August 1994)^[12]
• 6e Compagnie (6e CIE) - Reserve Unit (founded July 2001 upon the dissolution of the 173rd Infantry Regiment of Corsica)^[13]

Commanding Officers

Notable Officers and Legionnaires

Gallery

Battle honours

• Camerone 1863^[14]
• Indochine 1949-1954

See also

• The Parachute Regiment, the closest U.K. equivalent
• U.S. Army Rangers, closest U.S. equivalent
• The 35th "Tzanhanim" Brigade, closest Israeli equivalent
• Rhodesian Light Infantry, a Parachute/Commando regiment informally known as "Rhodesia's Foreign Legion."

Notes

References

• www.legion-etrangere.com
• Porch, Douglas. The French Foreign Legion. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. ISBN 978-0-06-092308-2
• Braby, Wayne & Windrow, Martin. French Foreign Legion Paratroops. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1985. ISBN 978-0-85045-629-5
• Lochrie, Alex. Fighting for the French Foreign Legion. London: Pen & Sword, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84884-085-0
• The 2e Rep: French Foreign Legion Paratroopers, Yves Debay, Histoire & Collections, 2003, ISBN 2-913903-06-1, ISBN 978-2-913903-06-7

External links

• Official website - 2e Régiment étranger de parachutistes
• 2eREP veterans forum

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