{{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 b ...

arm of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

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

Paris Fire Brigade The Paris Fire Brigade (, 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 brigade's main area of responsibility is the ...

are more specifically ''sapeurs-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 (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

. 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, ''1er régiment étranger de génie'', based in Laudun-l'Ardoise . **The 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment, ''2e régiment étranger de génie'', based in Saint-Christol **The 3rd Engineer Regiment, ''3e régiment du génie'', based in

Charleville-Mézières Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France and the prefecture of the Ardennes department, in the Grand Est region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. History Charleville and Mézières were ori ...

, 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 Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

**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 Climate See also * Communes of the Doubs department The following is a list of the 563 communes of the Doubs depart ...

**The 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment, ''17e régiment du génie parachutiste'', an elite unit based in

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

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

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, 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 Switzerland. Capi ...

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

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

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

Castelsarrasin Castelsarrasin (; ) 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. It is served by Ca ...

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

French protectorate in Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco, also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco that lasted from 1912 to 1956. The protectorate was officially established 30 March 1912, when List of rulers of Morocco, Sultan ...

*Fire and rescue services, provided by the “engineering security”, which comprises : **the Paris Fire Brigade ( BSPP), comprising 8,600 military personnel **the Brigade Militaire de la Sécurité Civile ( BMSC), with three regiments and a Unité d'Instruction et d'Intervention de la Sécurité Civile (RIISC/UIISC). These units have no territorial responsibilities, and can be deployed on rescue missions in France or abroad at very short notice. The 1st, 4th and 7th RIISC are battalion-level rapid reaction regiments, while UIISC 5 is a company-level 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