French Task Force Korrigan 2blog-post-8-13

The ''Groupement tactique interarmes de Kapisa'' (GTIA Kapisa, "joint tactical group of Kapisa"), also called Task Force Korrigan, was a battalion-sized unit of the French Army, based in Kapisa Province, in Afghanistan. It operated in the framework of the

French forces in Afghanistan French forces in Afghanistan were involved in the War in Afghanistan from late 2001, until fully withdrawing by 2014. They operated within two distinct frameworks: * the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), carried out by NATO on a Unit ...

Structure

French troops and armor in the Alasai Valley, Kapisa province

GTIA Kapisa comprises * a command component * a support component * two armoured infantry sub-groups The support unit provides fire support, engineering, communications, maintenance and medical support. The GTIA Kapisa operated under the Regional Command East headed by US general Curtis Scaparrotti. The other units of the French Army in Afghanistan operate under

Regional Command Capital In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

headed by French general Michel Stollsteiner. From 15 June 2009, GTIA Kapisa has been constituted of the

3rd Marine Infantry Regiment The 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 3e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 3e RIMa) is a unit of the French Army in the French Forces. The 3e RIMa is one of the oldest of the troupes de marine. This regiment is one of the "Quatre Grands" of ...

(3rd RIMa), complemented with an armoured unit of the

1st Marine Infantry Regiment The 1st Marine Infantry Regiment (french: 1er Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 1er RIMa) is a French regiment heir of the colonial infantry. The regiment is one of the « quatre vieux » regiments of the Troupes de Marine, with the 2nd Marine ...

(1st RIMa), two engineering sections of the

6th Engineer Regiment The 6th Engineers Regiment (french: 6e Régiment du Génie) is a regiment of the ''génie militaire'' of the French Military constituted under the IIIrd Republic. It is the only Engineers Regiment among the Troupes de Marine (French Marine Co ...

(6th RG), two mortar sections of the

11th Marine Artillery Regiment The 11th Marine Artillery Regiment (France) (french: 11e Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine, 11e RAMa) is an artillery regiment of the French Army. The regiment constitutes the fire support unit of the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade. The regiment empl ...

(11th RAMa), and a communication group for the 48th RT. This amounts to 650 personnel. The headquarters and one of the combat groups are positioned at

Nijrab Nijrāb (Pashto/Persian: نجراب) is a city with five valleys in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan. It is located at at 1,613 m altitude. There are a medical clinic, schools and radio station in the District. Nijrab is the most populous city of K ...

, while the other combat unit is based in Tagab. On 1 November 2009, command of the GTIA was transferred to the

Brigade La Fayette The Brigade La Fayette, also named Task Force La Fayette, was a joint unit of the French forces in Afghanistan. It was officially created on 1 November 2009, along with a complete reorganisation of the French military deployment in Afghanistan. It ...

History

The foundation of the GTIA-Kapisa was announced by President Sarkozy on 3 April 2008, during the NATO summit in Bucarest.

Task Force Chimera, August 2008 to January 2009

From August 2008 - January 2009, the GTIA-Kapisa was dubbed "Task Force Chimera". It comprised elements of * the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8e RPIMa) * 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 ...

(35e RAP) * 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 RGP) A company detached from the 8e RPIMa to the BatFra, and sustained casualties, 10 killed & 21 wounded, during the

Uzbin Valley ambush French International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were ambushed by Afghan Taliban insurgents, with heavy casualties, in the Uzbin Valley outside the village of Spēṟ Kunday of the Surobi District of Kabul province in eastern Afgha ...

on 18 August 2008. Task Force Chimera sustained 15 wounded during its tour besides the 10 killed & 21 wounded, during the

on 18 August 2008.

Task Force Tiger, January 2009 to 15 June 2009

From January 2009 to 15 June 2009, the GTIA-Kapisa was dubbed "Task Force Tiger", under Colonel Nicolas Le Nen. It comprised elements of * the 27th Mountain Infantry Battalion (27e BCA) * 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 REG) * the 4th Chasseurs, providing an armoured arm with five

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 s ...

(4e RCh) * the 93th Mountain Artillery Regiment (93e RAM). One of the most notable operations was the

Battle of Alasay The Battle of Alasay, codenamed Operation Dinner Out, was a military operation carried out by French troops of the Chasseurs Alpins's 27e Battalion and the Afghan National Army (ANA) 1st ''Kandak'' (battalion) between 14 and 23 March 2009. M ...

, on 14 March 2009. Task Force Tiger sustained one dead (Corporal Nicolas Belda, killed during the

), and one wounded.

Task Force Korrigan, 15 June 2009 to 15 January 2010

From 15 June 2009 to 15 January 2010, the GTIA-Kapisa is dubbed "Task Force Korrigan", under colonel Chanson. It comprises * a section of the

(3e RIMa) * a section of the

(6e RG) * two mortar sections from the 11e RAMa * one group of the 48e RT * one armoured platoon of the

(1e RIMa) In June, the French troops received reinforcements with eight

CAESAR self-propelled howitzer The CAmion Équipé d'un Système d'ARtillerie (English: ''Truck equipped with an artillery system'') or CAESARLa France va envoyer huit canons Caesar en Afghanistan
,

Jean-Dominique Merchet Jean-Dominique Merchet (born 26 October 1959 in Besançon) is a French journalist working for the daily newspaper ''L'Opinion''. He specializes in strategy, defense and military issues and often appears on radio and TV shows, notably ''C'est dans ...

, ''Secret Défense'', 29 June 2009 As of 1 November 2009, Task Force Korrigan had lost 7 killed and 44 wounded.

References

{{reflist, 2 International Security Assistance Force units and formations (Afghanistan) Ad hoc units and formations of the French Army