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 Force ...

unit created in 1981 whose components were all reassigned in 1984. On 1 July 1981 the Chief of Staff of the French Army enacted the creation of an inter-arm brigade placed under the orders and command of the Foreign Legion Groupment (G.L.E), headed 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 ...

s Paul Lardry and Jean-Claude Coullon.

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, Corsica. This was redesignated the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2^e R.E.I) in 1980, and garrisoned at Nîmes. *

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 R ...

(21^e R.I.M.a) The brigade benefitted from the support of

AMX-30 The AMX-30 is a main battle tank designed by Ateliers de construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (AMX, then GIAT) and first delivered to the French Army in August 1966. The first five tanks were issued to the 501st ''Régiment de Chars de Combat'' ...

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 (1^er REC), as well as the 1st Foreign Regiment, and

AMX 10 RC The AMX-10 RC is a French armoured fighting vehicle manufactured by GIAT for armoured reconnaissance purposes. Equipping French cavalry units since 1981, over 240 are still in service with the French Army as of 2021. In addition, 108 units were ...

squadrons of the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. The headquarter staff of the brigade was stationed in

Aubagne Aubagne (, ''Aubanha'' in Occitan according to the classic norm or ''Aubagno'' according to the Mistralian norm) is a commune in the southern French department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2018, it had a population of 47,208. Its inhabitants are k ...

. The brigade's main mission was peacekeeping 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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

in 1983 within the

Multinational Force in Lebanon The Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in August 1982 following a 1981 U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel to end their involvement in the confl ...

. 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 conscript ...

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 a ...

(3^e RPIMa), the

8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment The 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (french: 8e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, (8e RPIMa) is an airborne regiment of the French Army. The 8e RPIMa was created on 28 February 1951 and the men wear the red beret. It is par ...

(8^e RPIMa), the

1st Parachute Hussar Regiment The 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (french: 1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes, 1er RHP) is an airborne cavalry unit in the French Army, founded in 1720 by Hungarian noble Ladislas Ignace de Bercheny. It is stationed in Tarbes and is a p ...

(1^er RPH), the

35th Parachute Artillery Regiment The 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (french: 35e Régiment d'Artillerie Parachutiste, List of French paratrooper units, 35e RAP) is the only List of French paratrooper units, airborne artillery unit of the French Army forming the List of Fren ...

(35^e RAP) and the

17th Parachute Engineer Regiment The 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment (french: 17e Régiment de Génie Parachutiste, 17e RGP) is heir to the traditions of the 17th Colonial Engineer Regiment (french: 17e Régiment Colonial du Génie, 17eRGC) which illustrated itself during Wor ...

(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 spearheaded by lieutenant-colonel

Bernard Janvier Bernard Janvier (born 16 July 1939) is a former general of the French Army who served in the French Foreign Legion, primarily spearheading and putting in place effective resolving forces. He first took part in the Algerian War. He then spearheade ...

. Général Coullon led and witnessed the transformation of the Foreign Legion Groupment (G.L.E.) to the Foreign Legion Command (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 Foreign Legion Command. From May to September 1983, the 31st Brigade intervened in Lebanon as part of the

. 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 Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

and bordered to the right by red and blue stripes, representing the

Troupes de marine The (TDM, ) is a corps of the French Army that includes several specialities: infantry, artillery, armoured, airborne, engineering, and transmissions (Signals). Despite its name, it forms part of the Army, not the Navy. Intended for amphibi ...

. 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 ...

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 Prin ...

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 Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed to ...

Paul Lardy * 1982 – 1984: Général de brigade Jean-Claude Coullon
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