Franco-German Brigade

Franco-German Brigade
The Franco-German Brigade is a special military brigade of the Eurocorps, founded in 1989, jointly consisting of units from both the French Army and the German Army.
History
The Brigade was formed in 1987 following a summit between President Mitterrand of France and Chancellor Kohl of Germany. The Brigade became operational on October 2, 1989, under the command of General Jean-Pierre Sengeisen. Currently, the FGB is stationed at Müllheim, Metz, Donaueschingen, Illkirch-Graffenstaden, Sarrebourg, and Stetten am Kalten Markt as part of the Eurocorps.
In February 2009 it was announced that a German battalion of the force was to be moved to Illkirch near Strasbourg, the first time a German unit had been stationed in France since the German occupation of World War II.
On 31 October 2013, France announced that in 2014 it would inactivate the 110th Infantry Regiment based in Donaueschingen and thus withdraw around 1000 men from Germany. This would leave the brigade with 4000 men, but would put an end to each country having a major presence in the other, France would be left with ~500 troops in Germany and vice versa.
Since 2016, French units are part of 1st Division and German units are part of 10th Panzer Division.
Organisation
The Franco-German brigade can be described as a mechanised formation; its combat units are an armoured reconnaissance regiment, three infantry battalions, and an artillery regiment. The logistical support unit and the brigade's HQ have mixed complements drawn from both countries.
Staff, in Müllheim (D)
3e Régiment de Hussards (3e RH) (3rd Hussar Regiment), barracks Séré-de-Rivières in Metz (F)
1st Reconnaissance Company
2nd Reconnaissance Company
3rd Reconnaissance Company
4th Light Reconnaissance and Anti-Armour Company
5th Supply and Support Company
6th Combat Service Support Company
1 Régiment d'Infanterie (1 RI) - Infantry Regiment in Sarrebourg (F)
1st Infantry Company
2nd Infantry Company
3rd Infantry Company
4th Reconnaissance and Combat Support Company
5th Supply and Support Company
6th Combat Service Support Company
Jägerbataillon 291 (291st Light Infantry Battalion), in Illkirch-Graffenstaden (F)
1st HQ & Supply Company
2nd Light Infantry Company
3rd Light Infantry Company
4th Reconnaissance Company
Jägerbataillon 292 (292nd Light Infantry Battalion), in Donaueschingen (D)
1st HQ & Supply Company
2nd Light Infantry Company
3rd Light Infantry Company
4th Light Infantry Company
5th Heavy Infantry Company (8x 120mm Mortars, and 8x TOW Anti-Tank, 8x MK20 Fire Support and 6x Reconnaissance Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carriers)
6th Combat Service Support Company
Artilleriebataillon 295 (295th Artillery Battalion), in Stetten am kalten Markt (D)
1st HQ & Supply Battery
2nd Self-Propelled Howitzer Artillery Battery with PzH 2000
3rd Self-Propelled Howitzer Artillery Battery with PzH 2000
4th Rocket Artillery Battery with MLRS
5th Target Acquisition Battery with radars (COBRA), UAV (KZO) and weather platoon.
6th basic training company
Panzerpionierkompanie 550 (550th Armoured Engineer Company), in Stetten am kalten Markt (D)
Logistic Battalion, in Müllheim (D)
1st HQ & Supply Company (bi-national)
2nd Supply Company (bi-national)
3rd Maintenance Company (bi-national)
4th Transport Company (German)
Combat Service Support Company (French)
Staff Company Franco-German Brigade (bi-national)
See also
1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment
Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF)
Eurocorps
Franco-British Defence and Security Cooperation Treaty and Downing Street Declaration
French Foreign Legion
List of French paratrooper units
NATO
European army
References
See also article in International Defence Review, November 1994.
External links
Deutsch-Französischen Brigade at Bundeswehr.de
The Franco-German brigade and the pilot unit of a proposed Single Eu27pean regiment of a European Army.
Brigades of France
Brigades of the Bundeswehr
Multinational army units and formations
Infantry brigades of Germany
France–Germany military relations
Military units and formations established in 1989