The 31st Brigade (french: 31^e Brigade) was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

unit created in 1981 whose components were all reassigned in 1984. On 1 July 1981 the

Chief of Staff of the French Army The Chief of the Army Staff (french: Chef d'état-major de l'armée de terre, CEMAT) is the military head of the French Army. The chief directs the army staff and acts as the principal advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff on subjects concern ...

enacted the creation of an inter-arm brigade placed under the orders and command of the Foreign Legion Groupment (G.L.E), headed by générals Paul Lardry and

Jean-Claude Coullon Jean-Claude Coullon was a Général d'armée of the French Army and Commandant of the French Foreign Legion.

Organization

The structure of the 31st Brigade consisted of : * Command * 31st Command and Transmission Company * Operational Group of the Foreign Legion (G.O.L.E.; french: Groupement Opérationnel de la Légion Etrangère) stationed in Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, Bonifacio,

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. This was redesignated the

2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment The 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (french: 2e Régiment Étranger d'Infanterie, 2e REI) is an infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is one of two mechanized infantry regiments of the 6th Light Armoured Brigade ...

(2^e R.E.I) in 1980, and garrisoned at

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

. *

21st Marine Infantry Regiment The 21st Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 21e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 21e RIMa) is a unit of the French military issued by filiation from the 2e RIC. Creation and different nominations * 1831: creation of the 2nd Marine Infantry Re ...

(21^e R.I.M.a) The brigade benefitted from the support of AMX-30 tank squadrons of the

501e Régiment de chars de combat 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

, (501^e R.C.C). The brigade could be reinforced more particularly by the

1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment The 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment () is the only cavalry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is one of two armoured cavalry regiments of the 6th Light Armoured Brigade. The regiment recently moved camp after being stationed ...

(1^er REC), as well as the

1st Foreign Regiment The 1st Foreign Regiment (french: 1er Régiment étranger, 1er RE) and the 2nd Foreign infantry Regiment are the original and most senior founding regiments of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is also responsible for running sp ...

, and AMX 10 RC squadrons of the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. The headquarter staff of the brigade was stationed in

Aubagne Aubagne (, ''Aubanha'' in Occitan language, Occitan according to the classic norm or ''Aubagno'' according to the Mistralian norm) is a Commune in France, commune in the southern French Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In ...

. The brigade's main mission was

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United N ...

operations in

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 li ...

in 1983 within the Multinational Force in Lebanon. Some of the

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

s included the

3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment The 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 3e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, 3e RPIMa) is an airborne infantry regiment of the French Army. It is heir to the 3rd Colonial Commando Parachute Battalion created in 1948 an ...

(3^e RPIMa), the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8^e RPIMa), the

1st Parachute Hussar Regiment The 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (french: List of French paratrooper units, 1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes, List of French paratrooper units, 1er RHP) is an List of French paratrooper units, airborne cavalry unit in the French Army, fou ...

(1^er RPH), the

35th Parachute Artillery Regiment The 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (french: 35e Régiment d'Artillerie Parachutiste, 35e RAP) is the only airborne artillery unit of the French Army forming the air artillery component of the 11th Parachute Brigade. It is based in Tarbes ...

(35^e RAP) and the

17th Parachute Engineer Regiment The 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment (french: 17e Régiment de Génie Parachutiste, List of French paratrooper units, 17e RGP) is heir to the traditions of the 17th Colonial Engineer Regiment (french: :fr:17e régiment colonial du génie, 17e Ré ...

(17^e RGP), already active in UNIFIL ground operations since 1978. Général de brigade Jean-Claude Coullon was also in charge of the

2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment The 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (french: 2e Régiment étranger de parachutistes, 2e REP) is the only airborne regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is one of the four infantry regiments of the 11th Parachute Brigade and part o ...

(2e REP) in 1982, through the putting-in-place of

Operation Épaulard I Operation Épaulard 1 (Operation Orca 1) was a military operation undertaken on the behalf of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment to land soldiers in Beirut, Lebanon on 21 August 1982, during the Lebanese Civil War. They were part of the Multinatio ...

spearheaded by lieutenant-colonel Bernard Janvier. Général Coullon led and witnessed the transformation of the Foreign Legion Groupment (G.L.E.) to the

Foreign Legion Command The Foreign Legion Command (french: Commandement de la Légion Étrangère, (COMLE)) (official) is the Command of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The Legion is led by a French general, a Legion officer (french: Officier de Légion) who ...

(C.O.M.L.E) in 1984. He also headed simultaneously the transitional

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...

of the newly established

. From May to September 1983, the 31st Brigade intervened in Lebanon as part of the Multinational Force in Lebanon. The 31st Brigade was replaced by the 6th Light Armoured Division on 28 June 1984.

Traditions

Insignias

The insignia of the 31st Brigade is a silver rectangle, bordered to the left by green and red stripes, representing the Legion and bordered to the right by red and blue stripes, representing the Troupes de marine. The top right features two stars representing the brigade. At the bottom left features

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...

armed with a trident, forming out of a silver wave, recalling the intervention capacity capability of the brigade in any lieu, by maritime including aeronaval, aerial, or other

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

means of displacement. The insignia was realized on July 1981, following a contest at the corps units forming the brigade.

Brigade commander

* 1981 - 1982: Général de brigade Paul Lardy * 1982 – 1984: Général de brigade

Jean-Claude Coullon Jean-Claude Coullon was a Général d'armée of the French Army and Commandant of the French Foreign Legion.

Division General Commandant of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

, Les Chefs COMLE

References

{{French Foreign Legion navbox Brigades of France Military units and formations established in 1981 Military units and formations disestablished in 1984

Organization

Traditions

Insignias

Brigade commander

See also

References