Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale
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| Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale | |
|---|---|
 Official GIGN insignia |
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| Active | 1973 - Present |
| Country | France |
| Branch | French Gendarmerie |
| Type | Special Forces |
| Role | Domestic Counter-Terrorism and Law Enforcement |
| Size | about 380 gendarmes |
| Garrison/HQ | Satory, France |
| Nickname | GIGN |
| Motto | Servitas Vitae (To Save Lives, Unofficial) |
| Engagements | Air France Flight 8969 hijacking Kosovo Crisis Various anti-FLNC operations Arrest of Bob Denard |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Christian Prouteau, Paul Barril, Philippe Legorjus |
The National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, commonly abbreviated GIGN (French: Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale), is the French Gendarmerie's elite counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit; it is part of the police force, not the military. It is composed of 120 men, including 11 officers.[citation needed]
Its missions include the arrest of armed criminals, in particular those taking hostages, counter-terrorism and dealing with airplane hijacking, and prevention of mutiny in prisons.
GIGN headquarters are in Satory, west of Paris.[1] Along with the EPIGN and the GSPR it forms the GSIGN (Groupement de Sécurité et d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale, Grouping of Security and Intervention of the National Gendarmerie).
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[edit] History
After the Munich massacre during the Olympic Games in 1972, and a prison mutiny in Clairvaux Prison the next year, France started to study the possible solutions to extremely violent attacks, under the assumptions that these would be difficult to predict and deflect.[2]
In 1973, the GIGN was created as a permanent force of men trained and equipped to respond to these kind of threats while minimising risks for the public and hostages, for the members of the unit, and for the attackers themselves. The GIGN became operational on the first of March, 1974, under command of Lieutenant Christian Prouteau.
Ten days later, a deranged person was successfully stopped in Ecquevilly, validating the techniques of the unit and proving its necessity. GIGN initially had 15 members, which increased to 48 by 1984, 57 by 1988, and 87 by 2000.[3]
[edit] Structure
The GIGN is divided into a command cell, an administrative group, four operational troops of twenty operators, an operational support troop including negotiation, breaching, intelligence, communications, marksmanship, dogs and special equipment cells. [4] The special equipment group equips the unit with modified and high-tech equipment, by either selecting or designing it. GIGN is used about 60 times each year. [5]
All members go through training which includes shooting, long-range marksmanship, an airborne course and hand-to-hand combat techniques (Krav Maga). Members of the GIGN are widely regarded as having some of the best firearms training in the world.[6] It is for this reason that many of the world's special operations and counterterrorist units conduct exchange programs with the GIGN.[7] Most of the GIGN volunteers are family men rather than the supermen which the media often makes them out to be. Members never say GIGN but instead say "the group." Mental ability and self-control are important in addition to physical strength. Like most special forces, the training is stressful with a high washout rate of only 7-8% of volunteers making it to the training process. GIGN members must be prepared to disarm suspects with their bare hands.[8]
There are two tactical specialties in the group : HALO/HAHO and divers. Members learn several technical specialties among police dogs, breaching, long-range sniping, negotiation, etc.[9]
[edit] Operations
Since its creation, the group has taken part in over 1000 operations, liberated over 500 hostages, arrested over 1000 suspects, and killed a dozen terrorists. The unit has seen two members killed in action, and seven in training, since its foundation, and two of its dogs in action and one in training.[10]
Past actions include:
- The liberation of 30 school children from a school bus captured by the FLCS (front de libération de la côte somalienne, "Somali Coast Liberation Front") in Djibouti in 1976.
- Planning the liberation of diplomats from the French embassy in San Salvador in 1979 (the hostage-takers surrendered before the assault was conducted).
- GIGN commandos were instrumental in regaining control during the Grand Mosque Seizure in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on November and December 1979.
- Arrest of a Corsican terrorist of the National Front for the Liberation of Corsica in Fesch Hostel in 1980.
- Liberation of hostages of the Ouvéa cave hostage taking in Ouvea in the New Caledonia in May 1988.
- Protection of the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville.
- In December 1994, the liberation of 229 passengers and crew from Air France Flight 8969 in Marseille. The plane, hijacked by four GIA terrorists that wished to destroy the Eiffel Tower, had been completely mined, and three passengers had been executed during the negotiations with the Algerian government. The mission was widely publicized.
- Arrest of Bob Denard in 1995 in Comoros.
- Operations in Bosnia to arrest persons indicted for war crimes.
- Seizing of 6 Somali pirates and recovery of part of the ransom after making sure "Le Ponant" luxury yacht hostages were freed in the coast of Puntland in Somalia on the Gulf of Aden. In conjunction with French Marines on April 2008.
The GIGN was selected by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to teach the special forces of the other member states.
[edit] GIGN leaders
- Lieutenant Christian Prouteau : 1973-1982
- Capitaine Paul Barril : 1982-1983 (Interim)
- Capitaine Philippe Masselin : 1983-1985
- Capitaine Philippe Legorjus : 1985-1989
- Chef d'Escadron Lionel Chesneau : 1989-1992
- Capitaine Denis Favier : 1992-1997
- Chef d'Escadron Eric Gerard : 1997–2002
- Lieutenant-Colonel Frédéric Gallois : 2002-2007
- Colonel Denis Favier : 2007-present
[edit] In fiction
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- GIGN is one of the playable counter-terrorist skins in the games Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, and CounterStrike: Source.
- GIGN is present in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown. In the Rainbow Six games, an ex-GIGN operative was transferred to Rainbow.
- GIGN is also present in Joint Operations Typhoon Rising. In the Joint Operation games both the jungle camo and the blue camo are available.
- In the expansion to the video game SWAT 4, characters are able to wear a GIGN uniform.
- A former GIGN member appears as the leader of a private security unit in the 2005 film The Island.
- A member of GIGN is assassinated by a radical right-wing political faction in the anime Noir.
- In the game Soldier Front, players are able to choose one of the world's counter-terrorism groups as their main character during game-play. One of the counter-terrorism characters is a GIGN officer.
- They play a slightly prominent role in the stealth video game, Hitman: Contracts.
[edit] See also
- Other French counter-terrorist units
[edit] References
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ SOC - France - GIGN SpecialOperations.com Retrieved 14 April 2007.
- ^ SOC - France - GIGN SpecialOperations.com Retrieved 14 April 2007.
- ^ SOC - France - GIGN SpecialOperations.com Retrieved 14 April 2007.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Group Intervention of the National Gendarmerie (French) Retrieved 15 April 2007.
- ^ SOC - France - GIGN SpecialOperations.com Retrieved 14 April 2007.
- ^ SOC - France - GIGN SpecialOperations.com Retrieved 14 April 2007.
- ^ Group Intervention of the National Gendarmerie (French) Retrieved 15 April 2007.
- ^ SOC - France - GIGN SpecialOperations.com Retrieved 14 April 2007.
- ^ [2]
[edit] External links
- Official webpage (French)
- Unofficial webpage, officially endorsed (French)
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