The 3rd Light Armoured Brigade (french: 3 Brigade Légère Blindée, 3 BLB), the previous 3rd Mechanised Brigade, was a unit of the

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 ...

. The brigade was heir to the traditions of the 3rd Armored Division, an heir of the

3rd Algerian Infantry Division The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (french: 3e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne, 3e DIA) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (french: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II. Following the liberation of French North Afri ...

. The 3rd Light Armoured Brigade was dissolved on 16 June 2016. The 3rd Division was recreated on 20 June 2016 within the cadre of the reorganization of the French Army.

History of the brigade

3rd Algerian Infantry Division

The 3rd Mechanised Brigade is heir of the

3^e DIA which illustrated capability during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

under the orders of général de Monsabert puis du général Guillaume.

3rd Armoured Division

The 3rd Division was reconstituted in 1951 at the corps 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 ...

(french: Forces françaises en Allemagne, FFA). This was a grand unit of almost 15000 men covering the Western part of Germany and comprising three brigades: * The 5th Mechanised Brigade at Tübingen; * The 12th Mechanised Brigade at Offenbourg; * The 13th Motoryzed Brigade at

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

the division became the 3rd Armoured Division in 1978. Three

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiments, two tank regiments, two

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

regiments, one engineer regiment, and one command and support regiment. During the transformation of the FFA into FFECSA (french: forces françaises et élément civil stationnés en Allemagne) (French Forces and Civilian Element), the division was redimensioned and dissolved in 1991.

3rd Mechanised Brigade

In 1999, the 3rd Mechanised Brigade was created within the cadres of reforms of the

. The brigade adopted the traditions of the 3rd Armoured Division. The brigade regrouped six tactical regimental formations with a mission to prepare for engagement in an interarm, national and multinational context. The headquarter staff of the Mechanised Brigade garrisoned at Clermont-Ferrand on 1 July 2011.

3rd Light Armoured Brigade

On 18 March 2014, the brigade became designated as 3rd Light Armoured Brigade. This formation counted at that date 5 regiments with an effectif of 5000 men. Following the modeling presentation of the French Army in 2016, the brigade disappeared, the headquarter staff at Clermont-Ferrand was retaken by the headquarter staff of the 4th Aero-Combat Brigade (4^e BAC), newly created, and the regiments integrated in the following brigades - 1^er RIMa d'angoulème: 9^e BIMa de Poitiers - 126^e RI de Brive: 9^e BIMa de Poitiers - 92^e RI de Clermont: 2^e BB de Strasbourg - 68^e RAA de la Valbonne:7^e BB de Besançon - 31^e RG de Castelsarrasin: did not join a brigade, directly subordinated to the 3rd Division

Composition until 2009

Besides of the 31st Engineer Regiment (french: 31^e Régiment du génie, 31^e RG), the 3rd Mechanised Brigade consisted of the following units from 1999 to 2009 : * 1^er Régiment d'infanterie de marine, 1^er RIMa * 92nd Infantry Regiment (french: 92^e Régiment d'infanterie, 92^e RI) * 126^e Régiment d'infanterie, 126^e RI * Company anti-tank (CAC) * 68th Artillery Regiment (french: 68^e régiment d'artillerie, 68^e RA) * Command and Transmission Company

Composition since 2009

* The 3rd Mechanised Brigade counted 7000 in: * 1^er Régiment d'infanterie de marine de Angoulême ; * 126^e Régiment d'infanterie de Brive-la-Gaillarde ; * 92^e régiment d'infanterie de ligne de Clermont-Ferrand ; * 68^e régiment d'artillerie d'afrique de La Valbonne ; * 31^e régiment du génie de Castelsarrasin.

Heraly & Traditions

Origin

It was under the signs of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

traditions that général de Monsabert wanted to place the

3^e DIA during creation on 1 May 1943. The insignia of "Victory" (french: La Victoire) of Cirta (province of

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

, today Constantine (provence in Algeria)) is supported by three crescents representing the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

, which composed the majority of the division, allied to the "métros" (blue white red
Origin of the insignia, La Victoire
The "Victory" (french: La Victoire) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

protector of the

Emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

that the

Legio III Augusta ("Third Augustan Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. Its origin may have been the Republican 3rd Legion which served the general Pompey during his civil war against Gaius Julius Caesar (49–45 BC). It supported the general Octavia ...

de Cirta particularly venerated. She was found within a search at Constantine in the 19th century.

Emblem & insignia

The units of the 3rd Mechanised Brigade bore the shoulder insignia of 3 tricolor crescents on champ d'azur. The 3 crescents, formed themselves a styled "3", symbolizing the union in 1943 of the Muslim volunteers (the crescents) and metropole (the three colors) for the Liberation of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Motto

The motto of the 3rd Brigade was : "Un seul but : La victoire" which translated to "One purpose : La victoire".

References

External links

*Official site �
3 BM
*www.defense.gouv.fr {{CFAT Light Armoured Brigade, 3rd Military units and formations established in 1999 1999 establishments in France Military units and formations disestablished in 2016