GIGN


GIGN is the elite police tactical unit of the French National Gendarmerie. Its missions include counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials, and targeting organized crime.
GIGN was established in 1973 following the Munich massacre. Created initially as a relatively small tactical unit specialized in sensitive hostage situations, it has since grown into a larger and more diversified force of nearly 400 members, with expanded responsibilities. GIGN shares jurisdiction of French territory with the National Police special-response units.
GIGN is headquartered in Versailles-Satory near Paris. Although most of its operations take place in France, the unit, as a component of the French Armed Forces, can operate anywhere in the world. Many of its missions are secret, and members are not allowed to be publicly photographed. Since its formation, GIGN has been involved in over 1,800 missions and rescued more than 600 hostages, making it one of the most experienced counter-terrorism units in the world.
The unit came into prominence following its successful assault on a hijacked Air France flight at Marseille Marignane airport in December 1994.

History

GIGN was formed in Maisons-Alfort, near Paris, in 1973 in the wake of the Munich massacre and other less well known events in France. Initially named ECRI, it became operational in March 1974, under the command of then-lieutenant Christian Prouteau and executed its first mission ten days later. Another unit, named GIGN, was created simultaneously within the Gendarmerie parachute squadron in Mont-de-Marsan in southwest France but the two units were merged under Prouteau's command in 1976 and adopted the GIGN designation. GIGNs initial complement was 15, later increased to 32 in 1976, 78 by 1986, and 120 by 2005. GIGN moved to Versailles-Satory in 1982.
In 1984, it became the police tactical unit of a larger organisation called GSIGN, together with EPIGN, the Gendarmerie Parachute Squadron, GSPR, the Presidential Security group and GISA, a specialized training center.
On 1 September 2007, a major reorganization took place. In effect, GSIGN was renamed GIGN and its former components became "forces" of the new GIGN which now reached a total complement of 380 operators.
More than a simple name swap, the new organization aimed at:
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. The respective areas of responsibility of each force did not change however as the Police already had primary responsibility for major cities and large urban areas while the Gendarmerie was in charge of smaller towns, rural areas as well as specific military missions. Under the new command structure, GIGN gendarmes can still be engaged in military operations outside of France due to their military status.
Coordination between GIGN and RAID, the national police elite team, is handled by a joint organization called Ucofi. A "leader/follower" protocol has been established for use when both units need to be engaged jointly, leadership belonging to the unit operating in its primary areas of responsibility.
Since its creation, the group has taken part in over 1800 operations, liberated over 600 hostages and arrested over 1500 suspects, losing two members killed in action and seven in training. The two fatalities in action were sustained when dealing with armed deranged persons.
On 9 December 2011, French Ministry of Defence, Gerard Longuet, gave the Cross for Military Valour to the flag of the unit for its participation to operation Harmattan in Libya.
On 31 July 2013, the unit's flag received a second Cross for Military Valour for its participation in the Afghanistan War.
In January 2015, GIGN is engaged for the very first time simultaneously with RAID, during the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks.
On 15 June 2015, the unit's flag received the Medal for internal security and, due to its two Crosses for Military Valour, members of the group are officially allowed to wear the Fourragère.

Missions



Structure

GIGN is currently organized in six "forces", under two headquarters :
Female gendarmes are admitted in all forces, except the intervention force.
There are several tactical specialties in the group, including: long-range sniping, breaching, observation and reconnaissance, executive protection, free fall parachuting with HALO/HAHO jumps, diving, etc.
Helicopter support is provided by Gendarmerie helicopters and, for tactical deployment of large groups, by GIH a joint army/air force special operations flight equipped with SA330 PUMA helicopters based in nearby Villacoublay air base. GIH was established in 2006 and has also been tasked to support the National Police RAID unit since 2008.
Thirteen regional units called "GIGN branches", manned by personnel selected and trained by GIGN, complement its action in metropolitan France and in the French overseas departments and territories. The domestic units, initially known as PI2Gs have been redesignated as GIGN branches in April 2016; the overseas units initially known as GPIs were in turn redesignated as GIGN branches on 26 July 2016. As of 2016, the six metropolitan GIGN branches are located in Dijon, Nantes, Orange, Reims, Toulouse and Tours while the seven overseas branches are based in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion, Mayotte, French Polynesia and New Caledonia. The twenty nuclear protection units called PSPGs, located on site at each one of the French nuclear power plants, are not a part of GIGN but operate under its supervision.

Operations

GIGN reports directly to the Director general of the Gendarmerie Nationale i.e. the chief of staff of the Gendarmerie who in turn reports directly to the Ministry of the interior. 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. GIGN is also a member of the European ATLAS Network, an informal association consisting of the special police units of the 28 states of the European Union.
Some of the best known GIGN operations include:
GIGN was selected by the International Civil Aviation Organisation to teach the special forces of the other member states in hostage-rescue exercises aboard planes.

Selection and training

Candidates undertake a one-week pre-selection screening followed, for those accepted, by a fourteen months training program which includes shooting, long-range marksmanship, an airborne course and hand-to-hand combat training. Mental ability and self-control are important in addition to physical strength. Like for most special forces, the training is stressful with a high washout rate, especially in the initial phase – only 7–8% of volunteers make it through the training process.
GIGN is equipped with a wide range of police and military equipment that includes :

Motto and values

Although GIGN is part of the French military and has been deployed to external combat zones, it is primarily centered in France, engaging in peacetime operations as a special police force. Respect of human life and fire discipline have always been taught to group members since inception, and each new member is traditionally issued with a 6 shot.357 revolver as a reminder of these values.

GIGN leaders

GIGN is featured in the following films :