3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment

The 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (3e Régiment de Parachutistes d'Infanterie de Marine, 3e RPIMa) is an airborne regiment of the French army. It is part of the 11th Parachute Brigade and is stationed at Quarter Laperrine, Carcassonne, France.

History
Created 1 January 1948 in Saint-Brieuc as the 3rd Colonial Commando Parachute Battalion and sent to Indochina in October the same year. It was twice cited in the order of the army before being dissolved in 30 September 1950 after having sacrificed itself at That Khe.

Reformed on 27 December 1951 and renamed the 3rd Colonial Parachute Battalion on 28 May 1952 and the regiment further distinguished itself in Indochina.

It is once again dissolved in 1953, providing the cadre for the 5th Vietnamese Parachute Battalion. It was reformed again on 1 June 1955 as the 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment and Lieutenant Colonel Bigeard took command on 1 November 1955.

It took part in all the major operations in Algeria as a part of the 10th Parachute Division, including combat around Bizerte. It was renamed the 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment on 1 December 1958 and it returned to Metropolitan France and settled in Carcassonne on 22 July 1962. The regiment became entirely professional in 1976. In 1978 the regiment took part in the intervention in south Lebanon in 1978.

Recent overseas operations

 * 1990/91: Saudi Arabia
 * 1991: Iraq-Turkey
 * 1990/91/92/95/96: Tchad
 * 1990: Gabon
 * 1991: Togo
 * 1991/93: Zaire
 * 1990/93/94: Rwanda
 * 1995/1996: Bosnia
 * 1997/98/99/2000: Congo
 * 1999: Kosovo
 * 2000: Kosovo
 * 2013: Mali

Composition
The regiment is composed of 1120 personnel organized into 8 companies :


 * Compagnie de commandement et de logistique (CCL) - Command and logistics company
 * Compagnie d'administration et de soutien (CAS) - Administration and support company
 * Compagnie d'éclairage et d'appui (CEA) - Reconnaissance and support company
 * 1er Compagnie de combat - 1st Combat company
 * 2e Compagnie de combat - 2nd Combat company
 * 3e Compagnie de combat - 3rd Combat company
 * 4e Compagnie de combat - 4th Combat company
 * Compagnie de réserve (CR) - Reserve company

Lineage

 * 1948: 3rd Colonial Commando Parachute Battalion (Created)
 * 1950: Dissolved
 * 1951: 3rd Colonial Commando Parachute Battalion (Recreated)
 * 1952: 3rd Colonial Parachute Battalion (Renamed)
 * 1953: Dissolved
 * 1955: 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment (Recreated and renamed)
 * 1958: 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (Renamed)

Officers and marines

 * Gilles Caron

Battle Honours

 * Indochine 1948–1950 1952-1953
 * AFN 1952-1962

Decorations

 * Croix de guerre des Théatres d'Opérations Exterieures with 3 palms.