1st Marine Infantry Regiment

The 1st Marine Infantry Regiment (1er Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine, 1er RIMa) is a French regiment, that inherits from Colonial Infantry. It is one of the oldest regiments of the Troupes de Marine with 2e RIMa, 3e RIMa, 4e RIMa and 1er RAMa, forming the Blue Division during Franco-Prussian war. The current regiment is based in Angoulême, and is actually a light cavalry regiment like the RICM equipped with AMX-10RC and VBL. It was part of the 9th Light Armoured Marine Brigade of the French Army and has been transferred to 3rd Mechanised Brigade since July 2009.

Deployments
The regiment has participated in all major operations of the French army (Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Central African Republic, Afghanistan). In 2010 members of the regiment were deployed in Guadeloupe and Djibouti or in operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Organization
The regiment is organized into 7 squadrons.


 * Escadron de commandement et de logistique (ECL) - command and support squadron
 * Escadron d'éclairage et d'investigation (EEI) de la 3e BM - brigade reconnaissance squadron
 * 1er Escadron blindé (1er EB) - 1st Armoured squadron
 * 2e Escadron blindé (2e EB) - 2nd Armoured squadron
 * 3e Escadron blindé (3e EB) - 3rd Armoured squadron
 * Escadron d’aide à l’engagement (EAE)
 * Unité de réserve de régiment - regimental reserve unit

Equipment

 * 18 AMX 10 RC
 * 16 VAB (3 are VAB T20/13)
 * 57 VBL (4 are VBL Milan and 10 VBLL)

Battle Honours

 * Bomarsund 1854
 * Forts du Pei-Ho 1860
 * Ki-Hoa 1861
 * Puebla 1863
 * Bazeilles 1870
 * Sontay 1883
 * La Marne 1914
 * Champagne 1915
 * Dobropolje 1918
 * Tobrouk 1941
 * Bir-Hakeim 1942
 * Garigliano 1944
 * Belfort 1944
 * Authion 1945
 * Afn 1952-1962

Decorations

 * Légion d'honneur
 * Croix de guerre 1914-1918 with 2 palms
 * Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with 1 palm

Sources and bibliography

 * Erwan Bergot, La coloniale du Rif au Tchad 1925-1980, imprimé en France : décembre 1982, n° d'éditeur 7576, n° d'imprimeur 31129, sur les presses de l'imprimerie Hérissey.