{{unreferenced, date=September 2016 The Engineering Arm, or ''l'arme du génie'', is the

Military engineering Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics be ...

arm In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between the ...

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 Engineering Arm's soldiers are known as sappers (''sapeurs''). Its soldiers in the

Paris Fire Brigade The Paris Fire Brigade (french: Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris, BSPP) is a French Army unit which serves as the primary fire and rescue service for Paris, the city's inner suburbs and certain sites of national strategic importance. The ...

are more specifically ''sapiers-pompiers'', and those of the Civil Security Instruction and Intervention Units are more specifically ''sapeurs-sauveteurs''. The Arm's colours are red and black, and its patron saint is

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...

. The Arm's motto is ''"Parfois détruire, souvent construire, toujours servir!"'', meaning "Sometimes to destroy, often to build, always to serve!" The Engineering Arm is divided into three main services: *The Land Component of the Defence Infrastructure Service, ''Composante Terre du Service d'infrastructure de la Défense'' (also known by its former title of the Engineering Service, ''le Service du Génie'') fulfils conventional engineering roles for the French military and ministry of Defence. This includes the Technical Service for Buildings, Fortifications and Works, ''Service technique des bâtiments, fortifications et travaux'' *Combat Engineering Regiments maintained throughout the French Army, namely **The

1st Foreign Engineer Regiment The 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment (french: 1er Régiment étranger de génie, 1er REG) is one of two combat engineer regiments of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment provides the combat engineering component of the 6th Light Arm ...

, ''1er régiment étranger de génie'', based in

Laudun-l'Ardoise Laudun-l'Ardoise (; oc, Laudun) is a commune in the Gard department in Occitanie (southern France). The commune name was ''Laudun'' until February 1, 2001. Population Wine Laudun is one of the communes producing Côtes du Rhône Villages w ...

. **The

2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment The 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (french: 2e Régiment Etranger de Génie, 2e REG) is one of two combat engineer regiments of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment provides the combat engineering component of the 27th Mountain I ...

, ''2e régiment étranger de génie'', based in Saint-Christol **The 3rd Engineer Regiment, ''3e régiment du génie'', based 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. ...

, founded in 1814. **The 6th Engineer Regiment, ''6e régiment du génie'', based in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

**The 13th Engineer Regiment, ''13e régiment du génie'', based in

Valdahon Valdahon () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Doubs department The following is a list of the 571 communes of the Doubs department of France. ...

**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 ...

, ''17e régiment du génie parachutiste'', an elite unit based in

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, an ...

**The 19th Engineer Regiment, ''19e régiment du génie'', based in

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...

, which is descended from the Engineering Arm's units in

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

and is currently responsible for railway-related combat engineering. **The 31st Engineer Regiment, ''31e régiment du génie'', based in

Castelsarrasin Castelsarrasin (; oc, Los Sarrasins) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in Occitanie region of France. The inhabitants are called ''Castelsarrasinois''. It is the second most populous commune in Tarn-et-Garonne after Montauban. I ...

, which is descended from the Engineering Arm's units in the

French protectorate in Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

*Fire and rescue services, provided by "Engineering Security" (''sécurité du génie''), which is composed of: **the

(BSPP), consisting of 8,600 soldiers **the Military Formations Command for Civil Security (''Commandement des Formations Militaire de la Sécurité Civile'') which maintains three "Civil Security Instruction and Intervention Units" (''unités d'instruction et d'intervention de la sécurité civile'', UIISC). These units have no territorial responsibilities and can be deployed on rescue missions in France or abroad at short notice. UIISC 1 and UIISC 7 are battalion-strength rapid reaction units, while UIISC 5 is of company strength and is primarily a training unit. In addition, the 25th Air Engineer Regiment (''25e régiment du génie de l'air'') is shared between the army and air force. The regiment is specialised in building and maintaining air bases. The regiment is formally a part of the Engineering Arm, although it is operationally commanded by the air force.

References

Arms of the French Army Military engineer corps Military fire departments