The 1st Mechanised Brigade (french: 1 Brigade Mécanisée, 1 BM) was one of the mechanized units of the Commandement des Forces Terrestres of the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

. Created on 1 July 1999, as heir to the 1st Armored Division, the brigade was dissolved on 21 July 2015. Before the dissolution, formations reached 4000 men and women and the general staff headquarters of the brigade was garrisoned at

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renam ...

. The 1st Division was recreated in 2016 within the cadre of the reorganization of the French Army. Compagnie de commandement 09937

250px, General Bruno Guibert commanding 1st Mechanised Brigade.

Creation and different denominations

* 1 May 1943 : creation of the 1st Armored Division 1^re DB from the Light Mechanized Brigade (BLM); * 31 March 1946 : dissolution of the 1^e DB * 1948 : the 1st Division was recreated; * 1 July 1999 : created of the 1st Mechanized Brigade 1^reBM which inherited the traditions of the 1st Armored Division; * 21 July 2015 : dissolution of the 1st Mechanized Brigade and the 1st commandment and transmission company

Motto

The motto, ''Nomine et Virtute Prima'' literary means "First by name and valor". The choice of the insignia, the cross of Saint Louis by

général is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level office ...

Jean Touzet du Vigier, comes from the place of formation of the unit, Tunisia, where

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

came to rest in 1270.

History

The 1st Armoured Division was dissolved with the reorganisation of the French Army in 1999, and the dissolution of the

French Forces in Germany French military forces were stationed in Germany after the surrender of Germany at the conclusion of the Second World War. France was one of four powers allocated an occupation zone. The French zone of occupation (, occupation forces in Germany) e ...

FFA. The division's honours and traditions are carried on with the formation of the 1st Mechanised Brigade in

. The brigade was strong with 4000 men and women. The brigade was engaged on the ensemble of exterior theatres operations with an average of 3500 soldiers on average per year:

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

Tchad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republ ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. The 1st Mechanised Brigade was dissolved on 21 July 2015.

Organization

The brigade consists of at least 5000 personnel in 5 regiments and 3 brigade units. *1 Régiment de

Tirailleurs A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French ...

(1 RTir) – infantry regiment in Epinal with

VBCI The Véhicule Blindé de Combat d'Infanterie (English: ''Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle'') or VBCI is a French Infantry fighting vehicle designed and manufactured by GIAT Industries (now Nexter Systems) and Renault Trucks Defense to replace ...

*1 Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine (1 RAMa) – self-propelled marine artillery regiment in

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...

with 12x

CAESAR Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

self-propelled howitzers and 16x 120mm RTF1 mortars *402 Régiment d'artillerie (402 RA) – artillery regiment in Châlons-en-Champagne *3 Régiment du Génie (3 RG) – engineer regiment in

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

*1 Compagnie de Commandement et de Transmissions (1 CCT) – command and signals company in

with VAB *Escadron d'éclairage et d'investigation – brigade reconnaissance squadron *Batterie de renseignement brigade

Notes

References

www.defense.gouv.fr

External links

*Official site �
1 BM
{{DEFAULTSORT:1st Mechanised Brigade (France) Mechanised Brigade, 1st Military units and formations established in 1999 1999 establishments in France Military units and formations disestablished in 2015