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French Army

Components Army Light Aviation Troupes de marine French Foreign Legion Chasseurs alpins List of current regiments Structure of the French Army Administration Chief of Staff of the French Army Equipment Modern Equipment History History of the French Army Timeline of the French Army Personnel List of senior officers Rank insignia Awards Croix de guerre Médaille militaire Légion d'honneur Awards

The Troupes de marine, are an arm of the French Army with naval heritage. The Troupes de marine are dedicated to service overseas. Despite their title they have been a part of the Army since 1967.

Soldiers of the troupes de marine are likely to spend much more of their service overseas, particularly in Africa, than other French soldiers. The troupes de marine include infantry (including light tank units and airborne units) and artillery.

The modern troupes de marine have a special mixed heritage as descendants of a merger between the older troupes de marine (once part of the navy) and the former French Colonial Forces.

The Troupes de marine were founded in 1622 (officially titled compagnies ordinaires de la mer) as land forces under the control of the navy, notably for operations in French Canada. The Troupes de marine were transferred to the army in 1967. The French navy retains control of a smaller land force, the fusiliers-marins.

Many of the current regiments of the Troupes de marine are in fact descendants of the Troupes Coloniales (Colonial Troops), a force which had sometimes been under the control of the navy. The colonial troops were merged into the Troupes de marine in the 1960s as many former French colonies became independent. The nickname la Coloniale or la Colo refers to this heritage.

At their height in 1940, the Troupes de marine consisted of nine divisions and several demi-brigades who manned machine gun emplacements on the Maginot Line. They recruited both in France and overseas.

Contents 1 Nicknames 2 Composition 3 Uniform 4 History 5 Today 6 See also 7 External links

Troupes de marine soldiers are known in French as marsouins ("Harbour Porpoise"). Marine Gunners are known as bigors, a nickname whose origin is disputed. It could come from bigue dehors which was the order given for loading the guns on a ship. It could also come from bigorneau (winkle in English), either due to their toughness and unwillingness to desert their positions in combat or because their duties usually had them stuck on coastal rocks.

The Troupes de marine include:

• Infanterie de Marine
  • Infantry (infanterie de marine, abbreviation: -IMa)
  • Light cavalry (infanterie de marine, abbreviation: -IMa, and the Regiment d'infanterie de chars de marine: RICM)
  • Airborne (parachutistes d'infanterie de marine, abbreviation: -PIMa)
• Artillerie de Marine
  • Artillery (artillerie de marine, abbreviation: -AMa)

The Troupes de marine uniform is the same as for other units of French army (plain green or woodland camouflage). Distinctive features are a golden fouled anchor either as a gold-metal badge on the beret (Marine paratroopers wear red berets) or embroidered on the front of the kepi.

The full dress includes yellow epaulettes (official colour name is daffodil) and a navy blue cravat (scarf worn around the neck). Historically, the uniform was navy blue with yellow epaulettes. The ancient uniform, gave the nickname of "the Blue Division" to the Troupes de marine units involved in the 1870 Franco-Prussian war. The pith helmet was also worn overseas in the times of colonial infantry.

The Troupes de marine originate from the compagnies ordinaires de la mer created in 1622 by Cardinal Richelieu. They were troops dedicated to naval combat. In 1822 and 1831, the compagnies ordinaires de la mer were used to create the marine infantry and marine artillery, dedicated to land combat arising during naval expeditions. In 1900 the Troupes de marine were removed from the responsibility of the Ministère de la Marine (analogous to the British Admiralty) and transferred to the Ministry of War, being renamed the Colonial Troops in the process. In 1957 they again took up their old name.

The modern Troupes de marine were created in 1967 within the army as a fast reaction force for external operational theatres. The Troupes de marine are one of the "armes" (corps) of the French army, which includes specialities associated with other corps (artillery, cavalry, signals) but with amphibious or airborne specialisations.

• Current Units: - Numbered sequentially whether regiments or battalions
  • Régiment de Marche du Tchad (RMT) in Noyon (infantry)
  • Naval Infantry Tank Regiment (Régiment d'Infanterie de Chars de Marine) (RICM) 9e BLBMa in Poitiers (light cavalry) The odd acronym was created to keep alive the traditions and honours of its celebrated original designation during World War II, the Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale du Maroc (Regiment of Colonial Infantry of Morocco).
  • Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine du Pacifique - Nouvelle Calédonie (RIMaP-NC) in Noumea New Caledonia (infantry)
  • Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine du Pacifique - Polynésie (RIMaP-P) in Papeete
  • 1er Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine (1er RAMa) in Laon (artillery)
  • 1er Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine (1er RPIMA) in Bayonne (airborne commandos). It currently does not fulfill "Marine" roles, but Special Operations, similar to the US Army Rangers.
  • 1er Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine (1er RIMa) 9e BLBMa in Angouleme (light cavalry)
  • 2e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine (2e RPIMa) in Pierrefonds (Réunion) (airborne)
  • 2e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine (2e RIMa) 9e BLBMa in Le Mans (infantry)
  • 3e Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine (3e RAMa) in Canjuers (artillery)
  • 3e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine (3e RPIMa) in Carcassonne (airborne)
  • 3e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine (3e RIMa) 9e BLBMa in Vannes (infantry)
  • 5e Régiment interarmes d'outre-mer (5e RIAOM) in Djibouti
  • 6e Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine (6e BIMa) in Libreville (Gabon)
  • 8e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine (8e RPIMa) in Castres (airborne)
  • 9e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine (9e RIMa) in Cayenne (French guiana) (infantry)
  • 11e Régiment d'Artillerie de Marine (11e RAMa) 9e BLBMa in Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier (artillery)
  • 21e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine (21e RIMa) in Frejus (infantry)
  • 22e Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine (22e BIMa) 9e BLBMa in Nantes (command and support)
  • 23e Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine (23e BIMa) in Dakar (Senegal)
  • 33e Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine (33e RIMa) in Fort-de-France (Martinique)
  • 41e Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine (41e BIMa) in Pointe-a-Pitre (Guadeloupe)
  • 43e Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine (43e BIMa) in Port-Bouet (Côte d'Ivoire)
  • 72e Bataillon d'Infanterie de Marine (72e BIMa) in Marseille

Regiments with 9e BLBMa are part of the 9th Marine Light Armour Brigade (9e Brigade Légère Blindée de Marine), other regiments and battalions are integrated in non-Marine brigades

• French Foreign Legion
• Marine corps
• Fusiliers de Marine - Naval light infantry
• French Colonial Forces

• Official site
• Unofficial site (managed by the national federation of veterans of oversea and marine troops)