Small Scale Military Headquarters

3 times more operators, that's the decision of the French military in order to help the GIGN (Gendarmerie nationale's intervention group) cping with the increasing number of hostage situations in France and abroad.

with 420 troopers in 2010, it should be able to manage major crisis like the two recent hostage situations in Russia (Moscow's theater and Beslan school). The goal is to be able to engage a supercommando of 200 troopers at any time.

The Gendarmerie nationale is a military police which is used for law and order missions outside cities (in the countryside) in France. The GIGN was created in the 70's after the Munich incident. Its operators work with its foreign counterparts and suceeded in taking back an Airbus airplane from algerian islamist terrorists on the Marseilles Airport in december 1994.

The GIGN also operates in the military field along with other special forces from the Army and the Navy. The "super gendarmes" are currently operating in Afghanistan and protection the French Embassy in Baghdad.

the reorganization of the gendarmerie nationale's special operations team (merged into the GIGN) lead to another modification : the GIGN symbol is gonna change on spetember the 1st





the new GIGN will replace the former GISGN which covered the GIGN, the paratrooper squadron (EPIGN), the french equivalent of the secret service (GSPR, security detail of the French president, disbanded since Nicolas Sarkozy chose policemen instead of gendarmes for his protection).

It looks like the "super gendarmes" from the French secret service (groupement de sécurité de la présidence de la république), former independant group of the GIGN reintegrated inside the new unit (see posts above) are having a bad time.

In order to be reintegrated in their mother unit the former members of the French president security detail were supposed to go through the rookie try outs (although they're former GIGN operators). The instructors showed them their 10 year experience as special operation troopers meant squat and that's when the troubles began. They had to stand all the trials (assembling a famas with a blindfold, waiting for hours under the pouring rain...) of the new recruits and decided it was too much for them.

The hierarchy has decided to transfer them to two new units inside the GIGN : observation/search and security/protection.

they're really having a bad time because the gendarmes have been the only members of the President's security detail during François Mitterrand's terms (1981-1995). President Chirac (1995-2007) mixed their unit with policemen, and the recently elected Nicolas Sarkozy chose only policemen for its security detail.