The 11th Parachute Brigade () is one of the French Army's airborne forces brigade, predominantly light infantry, part of the French paratrooper units and specialized in air assault, airborne operations, combined arms, and commando style raids. The brigade's primary vocation is to project in emergency in order to contribute a first response to a situational crisis. An elite unit of the French Army, the brigade is commanded by a général de brigade (Brigadier General) with headquarters in Balma near Toulouse. The brigade's soldiers and airborne Marines wear the red beret (amaranth) except for the Legionnaires of the 2ème REP who wear the green beret.
The 11th Parachute Brigade, originally the 11th Light Intervention Division (11e DLI), was created from airborne units of the 10th Parachute Division 10e D.P and 25th Parachute Division 25e D.P,Clayton, 'France, Soldiers, and Africa', Brassey's Defence Publishers, 1988, p.190 both dissolved following the Algiers putsch of 1961 during the Algerian War.
Creation and different nominations
On May 1, 1961; the 11th Light Intervention Division () was created from dissolved airborne units of the 10th and 25th Parachute Division.In Revue Uniformes no 278 (sept-oct 2011), page 30 On December 1, 1963; the 11th Division was created by merging the 11th Light Intervention Division and the 9th Brigade 9e B.D.E.History of French Paratroopers Histoire des parachutistes français, page 556 On April 1, 1971; the 11th Division became the 11th Parachute Division (11e DP). In June 1999; the 11th Parachute Division became the 11th Parachute Brigade (11e BP).
Origin and history 11th Light Intervention Division – 11e DLI
The 11th Light Intervention Division was created on May 1, 1961, from airborne elements of the 10th Parachute Division and 25th Parachute Division, both dissolved following the Algiers putsch of 1961, and from the 11th Intervention Division (11e DI), set at the time to create a total of three airborne divisions. The division commanded by General Marzloffin paratroopers, the honor to serve Les paras l'honneur de servir , page 151 returned to mainland France on July 1, 1961. On August 1, 1963, the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment leaves the Division and takes garrison in Lorraine at Dieuze and Nancy.
Order of battle Since creation the 11th Light Intervention Division comprised the following:
Command and Support Structure 61st Headquarters Company (61e CQG) 61st Transmission Company (61e CT) French Army Light Aviation (ALAT) Platoon Transport Group 513 (GT 513) 61st Airborne Engineer Company (61e CGAP) 61st Repair Division Company (61e CRD) 61st Medical Company (61e CMA) 61st Provision Section (61e SRI) Parachute Infantry 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment (1er RCP) 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment (9e RCP) 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (3e RPIMa) 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (6e RPIMa) 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8e RPIMa) Parachute Artillery 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (35e RALP) Parachute Cavalry 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (1er RHP)
At the time, there were no regiments of the Foreign Legion in the newly enacted division. On October 1, 1963, the division integrated the BOMAP (Airborne Operational Mobile Base).
11th Division – 11e DIV On December 1, 1963, the 11th Light Intervention Division merged with the 9th Colonial Infantry Division and became the 11th Division. From July 1966 and excluding elements of Division support, the division activated and consisted of three Brigades: the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade at Saint-Malo, the 20th Airborne Brigade (20e BAP) at Toulouse and the 25th Airborne Brigade (25e BAP) at Pau.
A support battalion, the 61e BS, was created on February 1, 1964, at Auch. The 61e BS supervised health services and provisions in the Division. In March, the 61st Airborne Signals Battalion (61e BTAP) steps in at Pau and absorbs the existing signals and communication companies.
In July 1966, the 11th Division reached 16,000 men and consisted of two brigades (the 20e BAP at Toulouse and the 25e BAP at Pau) with five parachute regiments.History of French Paratroopers Histoire des parachutistes français, page 557 and 559
Order of battle
Command and Support Structure 61st Headquarters Company (61e CQG) 61st Airborne Signals Battalion (61e BTAP) 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (1er RHP) Régiment d'infanterie-chars de marine (RICM), formerly part of the Moroccan Division 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (35e RAP) 11th Marine Artillery Regiment (11e RAMa) part of current 9th Marine Infantry Brigade 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment (17e RGAP) 5th Helicopter Combat Regiment (5e RHC); Light Aviation Group of the 11th Division (GALDIV 11) Air Mobil Command Post 50/351 (PCAM) Airborne Operational Mobile Base (BOMAP) 61st Support Battalion (61e BS) 61e CMLAP 11e CLRM 511e CRRM 11e and 61e SEI 9th Outremer Brigade (9e BOM) 1st Marine Infantry Regiment (1e RIMa) 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment (2e RIMa) 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment (3e RIMa) 409e BS 20th Airborne Brigade (20e BAP) 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment (9e RCP) 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (3e RPIMa) 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8e RPIMa) CLT N5 25th Airborne Brigade (25e BAP) 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment (1er RCP) 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (6e RPIMa) CLT N6
11th Parachute Division – 11e DP
On April 1, 1971, the 11th Division was renamed the 11th Parachute Division at Toulouse. The 9th Outremer Brigade (9e BOM) left the Division and the 20th (20e BAP) and 25th Airborne Brigades (25e BAP) subsequently became the 1st and 2nd Parachute Brigades and each integrated one support battalion. The three support regiments were reorganized into two interim intervention regiments although retaining their original designations (1st Parachute Hussar Regiment and the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment). The 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment was dissolved.
Order of battle On July 1, 1971, the 11th Parachute Division consisted of the following units:
Command and Support Structure 61st Headquarter Squadron (61e EQG) 61st Transmission Company (61e CT) 5th Combat Helicopter Regiment (5e RHC); Light Aviation Group Division (GALDIV 11) Airborne Operational Mobile Base (BOMAP) Air Mobile Command Post 50/351 (PCAM) 1st Parachute Brigade (1re BP) 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment (9e RCP) 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (3e RPIMa) 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8e RPIMa) 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (35e RAP) 420th Command and Support Battalion (420e BCS) 2nd Parachute Brigade (2e BP) 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment (1er RCP) 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) 6th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (6e RPIMa) 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (1er RHP) 425th Command and Support Battalion (425e BCS)
On August 1, 1973, the 61st Headquarter Squadron and the 61st Transmission Company were amalgamated and formed the 61e BCT. The following year, in 1974, the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment was reformed and the interarm regiments find their specialities. On August 1, 1974, the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (1e RPIMa) was reattached to the Division.
Units belonging to the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP) and the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (35e RAP) took part in Operation Tacaud starting from 1978 in Chad.
In 1978, and within the cadre of military cooperation with Zaïre which anticipates assistance and formation, the 2nd Foreign Prachute Regiment is parachuted in during the Battle of Kolwezi, and participated in the rescue mission at Kolwezi together with Belgian paratroopers. During this intervention, two teams of the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment and one team from the 1st Marine Parachute Infantry Regiment (1e RPIMa) were deployed to forward operating terrain on observation and reconnaissance missions.
During this time, France had an intervention force 20,000 strong consisting of the 11th Parachute Division, the 9th Marine Infantry Division (9e DIMa), aerial forces and Naval contingents.
On October 23, 1983, one company of the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment stationed in Lebanon with the Multinational Force in Lebanon lost 55 paratroopers from the 1er RCP in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. Three paratroopers from the 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment were also killed.
In the aftermath of the Cold War, the French Army reorganised and the 11e DP became the 11th Parachute Brigade in 1999.
11th Parachute Brigade – 11e BP
In 1999, as part of the restructuring of the French Army, the 11th Parachute Brigade was formed at Balma (Balman Toulouse Garrison), the base of the 11th Parachute Division. The brigade would later be engaged in Africa and Afghanistan.
Africa The 11th Parachute Brigade, mainly the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), took part in Opération Licorne in the Ivory Coast.
Afghanistan
From 2006 to 2007, the parachute brigade intervened in Afghanistan as part of the French Detachment of NATO's International Force. In September 2007, the brigade was relieved by Chasseurs Alpins of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (27e BIM).
On 18 August 2008, a unit of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (8e RPIMa) lost eight men during the .
The paratroopers of the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment (1er RCP), of the 11th Parachute Brigade, took up its first rotation, and was in place by Sunday, 1 May 2011, in Kapisa Province. Four more rotations would follow. A total of 650 military personnel were scheduled for a mission to maintain zonal security.
On 10 May 2011, two combat parachute companies of the 1e RCP—almost 200 men commanded by général Emmanuel Maurin, commander of the 11th Parachute Brigade—were projected east towards Nijrab District, on a mission lasting several months. As a result, 1000 paratroopers were engaged in Afghanistan, principally from the 1e RCP, which were supported by the 11th Parachute Brigade, the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment, the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment, 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment, and the 1st Train Parachute Regiment.
From April to October 2001, while preparing for this mission, the 11th brigade rehearsed realistic simulations, in order to achieve operational readiness within the newly established Brigade La Fayette joint command. In Afghanistan, reinforcements served for periods from 6 months to a year in Nijrab District, in northeastern Kapisa Province, while attached to the Tactical Interam Group of Kapisa (TIGK).
As of June 20, 2011, the 11th Parachute Brigade was the brigade that endured the most losses, with 18 casualties, in Afghanistan.
Mali In January 2013, 250 French paratroopers from the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment (2e REP), 11th Parachute Brigade, jumped into Northern Mali to support an offensive to capture the city of Timbuktu.
Present Brigade
Mission The 11th Parachute Brigade is a light mobile brigade capable of projecting power around the world in an emergency, as a first response to a crisis.
Superior commands The 11th Parachute Brigade is the only parachute brigade of the French Army and is under Ground Forces Command. However, the brigade does not comprise all the parachutes regiments of France, as the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (1er RPIMa) and the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment (13e RDP) are attached to the French Army Special Forces Brigade, while the 2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (2e RPIMa)—stationed permanently in outre-mer, near Réunion island—is under the command of the Armed Forces Zones of the Indian Ocean (FAZSOI).
Order of battle
The 11th Parachute Brigade is composed primarily of infantry, with elements of artillery, light cavalry, and combat-engineer regiments. The brigade also includes a Commando Parachute Group (GCP), an elite unit of pathfinders.