Mobile Gendarmerie


The Mobile Gendarmerie is a subdivision of the French National Gendarmerie whose main mission is to maintain public order and general security. Contrary to the Departmental Gendarmerie, whose jurisdiction is limited to specific parts of the territory, the Mobile Gendarmerie can operate anywhere in France and even abroad as the Gendarmerie is a component of the French Armed Forces. Although the term "mobile" has been used at different times in the 19th century, the modern Mobile Gendarmerie was created in 1921.
The Mobile Gendarmerie is nicknamed la jaune because of its golden rank insignia, the traditional color of infantry in the French Army.
The Mobile Gendarmerie is often mistaken with the National Police's CRS, as some of their missions are similar, but they have a different status, military for the gendarmes and civilian for the CRS.

History

The term "mobile" was used at various times in the 18th and 19th century to name various Gendarmerie or mixed Gendarmerie-Army units : mobile battalions, mobile columns etc. engaged in public order duties. By the beginning of the 20th century, it was realized that there was a need for an intermediate force between the Police and the Army, which until then had been frequently called upon in case of trouble, very often with disastrous results. The Gendarmerie also contributed platoons composed of gendarmes on temporary duty taken from local brigades but these men had received no specific training in crowd control, were not under the command of their regular officers and this service was not popular as it took the men away from the brigades for weeks at a time and considerably disrupted the service. Still, many lawmakers were reluctant to create a dedicated force which - they thought - would be costly and might become a new Praetorian guard.
Starting in 1917, platoons from the Provost Gendarmerie were frequently used in crowd control and riot control duties during demonstrations - even in large cities away from the front.
In 1921, it was finally decided to create "Mobile Gendarmerie platoons" in the Departmental Gendarmerie. Platoons, either horse mounted or on foot were composed of 40 gendarmes. In 1926, the platoons formed the "Garde Républicaine mobile", which became a separate branch of the Gendarmerie in 1927, the platoons becoming part of companies and legions. By 1940, the GRM was a force 21.000 strong, composed of 14 Légions, 54 company groups and 167 companies.
Long the only large force specialized in maintaining or restoring law and order during demonstrations or riots, the GRM progressively developed the doctrine and skills needed in that role : exercise restraint, avoid confrontation as long as possible, always leave an "exit door" for the crowd etc.
More than 6.000 GMR gendarmes fought in 1940 either in line Gendarmerie combat units or as detached personnel seconded to the Army. After the 1940 armistice, the Germans demanded that the GRM be disestablished. A new organization, 6.000 strong, called "La Garde", separate from the Gendarmerie, was created, staffed primarily with former GRM gendarmes and was attached, first to the minimal French Army remaining in the unoccupied zone, then after the whole country was occupied in the wake of the Allied landings in Africa in November 1942, to the Ministry of Interior. Being attached to the cavalry branch of the Army, the Garde traded its companies for squadrons.
After the Liberation, the Garde was disbanded and the GMR recreated within the Gendarmerie under the new designation of Garde républicaine In 1954, it acquired its present name of Gendarmerie mobile.
The Garde républicaine/Gendarmerie mobile served during both Indochina and Algerian conflicts. In metropolitan France, its main missions remained first, that of maintaining law and order during demonstrations and second, to assist the Departmental Gendarmerie in its general security missions. An additional mission during the Cold War was Défense opérationnelle du Territoire or territorial operational defense against infiltrated ennemy or subversive elements, for which the Mobile Gendarmerie was partially equipped with armoured vehicles and tanks. During the post-war years, all new Gendarmes started their career in the Mobile Gendarmerie.
In 2009, the Gendarmerie, while remaining part of the French Armed Forces, was attached to the Ministry of the interior, which already supervised the National Police, without changes to its missions. As a consequence of that change, the formal requisition process which the Ministry of the interior needed in order to use Mobile Gendarmerie forces is not used anymore.

Missions

The GM's main missions include:
The territorial organisation of the GM is as follows:
The Gendarmerie has a dedicated training facility, the National Gendarmerie forces training center, in Saint-Astier, which duplicates an urban environment. Every squadron takes a two-week refresher training in riot-control techniques there every second year.
18 to 20 of the 109 squadrons are permanently deployed on a rotational basis in the French overseas departments and territories.
Until 2015, there used to be Reserve Mobile Gendarmerie squadrons but they were disestablished and all reserve personnels are now regrouped in reserve Departmental Gendarmerie units.

Zonal Gendarmerie Regions

Since 2016, metropolitan France has been divided into 12 administrative regions and the Departmental Gendarmerie has followed this pattern with 13 Gendarmerie Regions. The general officer in charge of a region whose capital is also the seat of a Defense Zone heads all Mobile Gendarmerie forces of that region. The number of Zonal regions, which went down from 9 to 7 in 2000, was left unchanged in the 2016 reform.

Mobile Gendarmerie Groupings

A grouping is an administrative echelon under the command of a lieutenant-colonel or a "full" colonel. Groupings are comparable to battalions or regiments but, contrary to theses units, their size is not standardized as they include from four to ten squadrons. Where the situation so warrants, squadrons from different groupings can be gathered into a "Tactical Gendarmerie Grouping" under the operational command of a grouping commander. If need be, several GTGs form an "Operational Grouping for Maintaining Order" under the command of a full colonel.

Mobile Gendarmerie squadrons

A mobile squadron of gendarmes is composed of: approx. 115 personnel members under the command of a major or a captain. The squadron is organized as follows :
There are two types of GM squadrons: regular squadrons and armoured squadrons of the armoured Grouping equipped with VBRG armoured wheeled vehicles.
On public order mission, a squadron typically deploys 3 or 4 platoons and a command vehicle.
Each squadron is identified by a three-digit number e.g.: EGM 15/6 in Nîmes.
Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale is the elite law enforcement and special operations unit of the French National Gendarmerie. Its missions include counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials and targeting of organized crime.
Although administratively part of the Mobile Gendarmerie, GIGN is in fact an independent unit that reports directly to the Director general of the Gendarmerie Nationale i.e. the chief of staff of the Gendarmerie. The DGGN can take charge in a major crisis; however, most of the day-to-day missions are conducted in support of local units of the Departmental Gendarmerie.
In addition to the main unit, based in Satory, there are six GIGN regional branches which are each administratively attached to a separate Mobile Gendarmerie Grouping. They are under the operational control of their Zonal regions and operate under GIGN supervision. There are also seven additional GIGN regional branches located in the main French overseas departments and regions but, although most of the gendarmes assigned to these units come from the Mobile Gendarmerie, they belong to the overseas gendarmerie for the duration of their assignment.

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