Making his way out of Calvi with his regiment on May 19, 1978, after a transit in Kinshasa, he jumped spearheading 700 paratroopers organized in two waves on Kolwezi (). The town which consisted of 2000 European civilians (principally Belgian and French), was liberated after violent combats with the rebels. The regiment endured the loss of 5 men, twenty legionnaires being wounded. On June 6, the President of Zaïre Mobutu Sese Seko () gave the accolade to colonels Yves Gras () (military attaché of Zaire) and Philippe Erulin: the Franco-Belge intervention equally permitted to consolidate his regime.