17th Parachute Engineer Regiment


The 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment is heir to the traditions of the 17th Colonial Engineer Regiment which fought illustriously during the Second World War . It is the only French paratrooper units|airborne engineer unit] of the French Army forming the engineering component of the 11th Parachute Brigade and secures all the specific airborne engineering missions relative to para assaulting at the level of deep reconnaissance as well as operations relative to para demining and handling explosives. The regiment has been present non-stop since 1975 on all theatres of operations. For its various combat operational deployments, the 17e RGP was cited 3 times at the orders of the armed forces, 2 times at the orders of the armed forces corps, and three of its combat companies cited at the orders of the armed forces in addition to armed forces corps.

History since 1870

Creation and different designations since 1944

  • Created on March 1, 1944 at Port Lyautey in Morocco under the designation of the 17th Colonial Engineer Regiment 17eRGC. Dissolved on November 16, 1945.
  • Reformed on August 1, 1946 in Algeria, from the 91st Engineer Battalion which provided airborne engineer support to the 25th Parachute Division, under the designation of 17th Engineer Battalion. Combat companies 17/9 stationed at Hussein Dey, the 17/1 at Bougie, the 17/2 at Marocco, the 17/3 at Mont-de-Marsan. Dissolved with the division in July 1948, a combat engineer Group designated was integrated at the center of specialized airborne troops until February 1949.
  • The airborne engineer group was redesignated the 17th Airborne Engineer Battalion on February 15, 1949 and was based within Metropolitan France at Castelsarras in Tarn-and-Garonne under the successive designations 17th Airborne Engineer Battalion, Center of Instruction of Airborne Engineer, 17th Airborne Engineer Regiment. Dissolved on June 30, 1971, two combat companies of the Airborne Engineer troops joined the two combined-arms paratrooper regiments in Tarbes and Auch, mainly the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment and the 1st Parachute Hussard Regiment.
  • Reconstituted at Montauban on July 1, 1974 under the designation of the 17th Airborne Engineer Regiment from the companies of parachute engineers forming the inter-arm regiments, based in garrison Doumer. In 1978, the airborne engineer regiment was designated as the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment.

Structure

The Regiment of volunteer paratroopers, the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment is articulated in 6 combat companies and 1 detachment:
  • 1 Command and logistic company
  • 1 Combat support company known as la verte et amarante, regrouping means of terrain organization
  • * 2 sections of combat support for emergency deployments
  • * Commando Parachute Group, known as , named after an Adjudant-chef killed in action in an operation.
  • 3 combat companies with the 4th on its way:
  • * 1st combat company
  • * 2nd combat company
  • * 3rd combat company
  • intervention reserve unit: 5th combat company
  • 1 combat detachment

Mascot

The mascot of the regiment was initially the Golden eagle named "Bac Kan" in reference to the first mission participation of the Airborne engineers in Indochina during the airborne operation "Lea" in October 1947.
Since 2014, the mascot is a Bald eagle named "Malizia", name of François Grimaldi who in the 13th century conquered the Rock of Monaco.

Traditions

The regiment wears wear the Red Beret. Regimental Colours:
Battle Honours:

Regimental Songs

Decorations

The regimental colors are decorated with:
The Fanions of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd combat companies are decorated with: