The 11th Parachute Brigade (French: 11<sup>e</sup> Brigade Parachutiste, 11<sup>e</sup> BP) is one of the French Army's airborne forces brigade, predominantly light infantry, part of the French paratrooper units and specialized in air assault, airborne operations, combined arms, and commando style raids. The brigade's primary vocation is to project in emergency in order to contribute a first response to a situational crisis. An elite unit of the French Army, the brigade is commanded by a général de brigade (Brigadier General) with headquarters in Balma near Toulouse. The brigade's soldiers and airborne Marines wear the red beret (amaranth) except for the Legionnaires of the 2ème REP who wear the green beret.
The 11th Parachute Brigade, originally the 11th Light Intervention Division (11e DLI), was created from airborne units of the 10th Parachute Division 10e D.P and 25th Parachute Division 25e D.P,[2] both dissolved following the Algiers putsch of 1961 during the Algerian War.
See main article: List of French paratrooper units and French Army.
See main article: List of French paratrooper units.
the 11th Light Interventtion Division was created on May 1, 1961, from airborne elements of the 10th Parachute Division and 25th Parachute Division, both dissolved following the Algiers putsch of 1961, and from the 11th Intervention Division (11e DI), set at the time to create a total of three airborne divisions.[5] The division commanded by General Marzloff[6] returned to mainland France on July 1, 1961. On August 1, 1963, the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment leaves the Division and takes garrison in Lorraine at Dieuze and Nancy.[7]
Since creation the 11th Light Intervention Division comprised the following:
At the time, there were no regiments of the Foreign Legion in the newly enacted division. On October 1, 1963, the division integrated the BOMAP (Airborne Operational Mobile Base).
On December 1, 1963, the 11th Light Intervention Division merged with the 9th Colonial Infantry Division and became the 11th Division. From July 1966 and excluding elements of Division support, the division activated and consisted of three Brigades: the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade at Saint-Malo, the 20th Airborne Brigade (20e BAP) at Toulouse and the 25th Airborne Brigade (25e BAP) at Pau.
A support battalion, the 61e BS, was created on February 1, 1964, at Auch. The 61e BS supervised health services and provisions in the Division. In March, the 61st Airborne Signals Battalion (61e BTAP) steps in at Pau and absorbs the existing signals and communication companies.
In July 1966, the 11th Division reached 16,000 men and consisted of two brigades (the 20e BAP at Toulouse and the 25e BAP at Pau) with five parachute regiments.[8]
See main article: List of French paratrooper units.
On April 1, 1971, the 11th Division was renamed the 11th Parachute Division at Toulouse. The 9th Outremer Brigade (9e BOM) left the Division and the 20th (20e BAP) and 25th Airborne Brigades (25e BAP) subsequently became the 1st and 2nd Parachute Brigades and each integrated one support battalion. The three support regiments were reorganized into two interim intervention regiments although retaining their original designations (1st Parachute Hussar Regiment and the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment). The 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment was dissolved.
On July 1, 1971, the 11th Parachute Division consisted of the following units:[9]
On August 1, 1973, the 61st Headquarter Squadron and the 61st Transmission Company were amalgamated and formed the 61e BCT. The following year, in 1974, the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment was reformed and the interarm regiments find their specialities. On August 1, 1974, the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (1e RPIMa) was reattached to the Division.
Units belonging to the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) and the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (35e RAP) took part in Operation Tacaud starting from 1978 in Chad.[10]
In 1978, and within the cadre of military cooperation with Zaïre which anticipates assistance and formation, the 2nd Foreign Prachute Regiment is parachuted in during the Battle of Kolwezi, and participated in the rescue mission at Kolwezi together with Belgian paratroopers. During this intervention, two teams of the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment and one team from the 1st Marine Parachute Infantry Regiment (1e RPIMa) were deployed to forward operating terrain on observation and reconnaissance missions.
During this time, France had an intervention force 20,000 strong consisting of the 11th Parachute Division, the 9th Marine Infantry Division (9e DIMa), aerial forces and Naval contingents.[11]
On October 23, 1983, one company of the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment stationed in Lebanon with the Multinational Force in Lebanon lost 55 paratroopers from the 1er RCP in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. Three paratroopers from the 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment were also killed.
In the aftermath of the Cold War, the French Army reorganised and the 11e DP became the 11th Parachute Brigade in 1999.
See main article: List of French paratrooper units and French Army.
In 1999, as part of the restructuring of the French Army, the 11th Parachute Brigade was formed at Balma (Balman Toulouse Garrison), the base of the 11th Parachute Division. The brigade would later be engaged in Africa and Afghanistan.
The 11th Parachute Brigade, mainly the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), took part in Opération Licorne in the Ivory Coast.
From 2006 to 2007, the parachute brigade intervened in Afghanistan as part of the French Detachment of NATO's International Force.[12] In September 2007, the brigade was relieved by Chasseurs Alpins of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (27e BIM).
On 18 August 2008, a unit of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8e RPIMa) lost eight men during the .
The paratroopers of the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment (1er RCP), of the 11th Parachute Brigade, took up its first rotation, and was in place by Sunday, 1 May 2011, in Kapisa Province. Four more rotations would follow. A total of 650 military personnel were scheduled for a mission to maintain zonal security.
On 10 May 2011, two combat parachute companies of the 1e RCP—almost 200 men commanded by général Emmanuel Maurin,[13] commander of the 11th Parachute Brigade—were projected east towards Nijrab District, on a mission lasting several months. As a result, 1000 paratroopers were engaged in Afghanistan, principally from the 1e RCP, which were supported by the 11th Parachute Brigade, the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment, the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment, 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment, and the 1st Train Parachute Regiment.[14]
From April to October 2001, while preparing for this mission, the 11th brigade rehearsed realistic simulations, in order to achieve operational readiness within the newly established Brigade La Fayette joint command. In Afghanistan, reinforcements served for periods from 6 months to a year in Nijrab District, in northeastern Kapisa Province, while attached to the Tactical Interam Group of Kapisa (TIGK).
As of June 20, 2011, the 11th Parachute Brigade was the brigade that endured the most losses, with 18 casualties, in Afghanistan.[15]
In January 2013, 250 French paratroopers from the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), 11th Parachute Brigade, jumped into Northern Mali to support an offensive to capture the city of Timbuktu.[16]
The 11th Parachute Brigade is a light mobile brigade capable of projecting power around the world in an emergency, as a first response to a crisis.
The 11th Parachute Brigade is the only parachute brigade of the French Army and is under Ground Forces Command. However, the brigade does not comprise all the parachutes regiments of France, as the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (1er RPIMa) and the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment (13e RDP) are attached to the French Army Special Forces Brigade, while the 2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (2e RPIMa)—stationed permanently in outre-mer, near Réunion island—is under the command of the Armed Forces Zones of the Indian Ocean (FAZSOI).
The 11th Parachute Brigade is composed primarily of infantry, with elements of artillery, light cavalry, and combat-engineer regiments. The brigade also includes a Commando Parachute Group (GCP), an elite unit of pathfinders.
At the beginning of 2000, the brigade was based in southwestern France, except for the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) stationed in Calvi, Corsica. The brigade consists of 10,200 active and reserve personnel distributed in a central headquarters command and 8 operational regiments with the following composition:
Except for the troops of the 1e REG, 2e REG, 2e REP who wear a green beret, the French army metropolitan and marine paratroopers forming the 11th Parachute Brigade wear a red Beret.
The saint's day of Archangel Saint Michael, patron of French paratroopers, is celebrated on 29 September.
The prière du Para (Prayer of the Paratrooper) was written by André Zirnheld in 1938.
With the paratrooper brevet of the French Army, the insignia of French paratroopers was created in 1946. The French Army insignia of metropolitan paratroopers consists of a closed "winged armed dextrochere", ("right winged arm") with a sword pointing upwards. The insignia makes reference to the patron saint of paratroopers and represents "the right Arm of Saint Michael", the Archangel, which, according to Liturgy, is the "armed arm of God". This insignia is the symbol of righteous combat and fidelity to superiors and to the mission. The French Army Insignia of Marine Infantry Paratroopers is over a marine anchor.
| valign=top | 11th Light Intervention Division (1961–1963)
11th Division (1963–1971)
| valign=top | 11th Parachute Division (1971–1999)
| valign=top | 11th Parachute Brigade (1999–present)
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