Marine Troops are a weapon of the French army which includes several specialties (infantry, artillery, ABC, transmissions). They are an integral part of the Army, despite their name.
They find their origin in the ordinary sea companies, created in 1622 by Cardinal Richelieu. These companies are intended to be embarked on the royal ships and must take part in boarding and other naval combats.
After the revolutionary and Napoleonic interlude, which saw the transformation of these units into line infantry units, it was in 1822 and 1831 that the marine artillery and marine infantry were recreated. These two weapons are no longer used on board ships, but on land, in the new territories conquered and administered by France.
In 1870, artillery and marine infantry were for the first time grouped together in the same large unit:the blue division of General de Vassoigne, so named because of the blue uniforms of these soldiers, which differentiated them from the line troops which wore madder pants.
The Troupes de Marine were attached to the Ministry of War in 1900, and took the name of colonial troops. It was under this name that they took part in the First World War (1914-1918), the construction of France's third colonial empire, the Second World War (1939-1945), the wars in Indochina (1946 -1954) and Algeria (1954-1962).
In 1967, the Arme des Troupes de Marine was created within the Army by merging the infantry and the colonial artillery. Its mission is to rapidly set up means of defense and intervention in territories geographically distant from mainland France and to ensure a continuous presence of French forces in overseas France as well as in certain allied countries. /P>
Rallying cry and celebration
In the name of God, long live the colonial. The Marine Troops weapon preferred to address God to its saints. At the origin of this expression, Charles de Foucaud, missionary, who one day when he was in difficulty with an indigenous population saw colonial units come to his aid. He exclaimed happily "In the name of God, long live the colonial!", relieved to see his saviors. The celebration of the weapon of the navy troops takes place on August 31 and September 1, anniversary of the Battle of Bazeilles. August 31 is the occasion of the gathering of all the units in Fréjus where we find the museum of the marine troops. On September 1, the veterans' associations organize the ceremony in Bazeilles in the Ardennes.
Location
The particularity of this Weapon is to bring together soldiers of various specialties, infantrymen, artillerymen, horsemen (armored vehicles) and transmitters, while in the rest of the Army each specialty forms a Weapon.
In metropolitan France
In mainland France, there are 12 TDM regiments:
* 4 Marine infantry:RMT (Noyon), 2nd RIMa (Le Mans), 3rd RIMa (Vannes), 21st RIMa (Fréjus).
* 3 Marine infantry paratroopers:1st RPIMa (Bayonne), 3rd RPIMa (Carcassonne), 8th RPIMa (Castres).
* 2 armored personnel carriers:1st RIMa (Angoulème), RICM (Poitiers)
* 3 Marine artillery:1st RAMa (Laon Couvron), 3rd RAMa (Canjuers), 11th RAMa (La Lande d'Ouée)
Some smaller units are TDM traditions
* 1 Adapted military service:GSMA (Périgueux)
* 2 Marine infantry battalions, staff support corps or military camp:22nd BIMa (Nantes), 72nd BIMa ( Marseille)
* 2 groups:33rd camp group (Sissonne), 38th camp group / 7th RIMa
* The Military Professional Training Center (CMFP) of Fontenay-le-Comte
* Military Specialization School for Overseas and Abroad (EMSOME) in Rueil-Malmaison
* Group of Transit and Administration of Isolated Personnel (GTAPI) of Rueil-Malmaison
Overseas and foreign
Overseas, the 9 regiments are combined arms and include within them all the TDM specialties mentioned above, plus personnel from engineering and equipment because their specialties are no longer found today within the TDM:
* The Pacific Marine Infantry Regiment - New Caledonia (RIMaP-NC) of Nouméa
* The Pacific Marine Infantry Regiment - Polynesia (RIMaP-P) of Papeete
* The 2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (2e RPIMa) of Pierrefonds (Reunion)
* The 9th Marine Infantry Regiment (9e RIMa) of Cayenne (French Guiana)
* The 23rd Marine Infantry Battalion (23e BIMa) of Dakar (Senegal)
* The 33rd Marine Infantry Regiment (33rd RIMa) from Fort-de-France (Martinique)
* The 41st Marine Infantry Battalion (41st BIMa) from Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe)
* The 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion (43rd BIMa) of Port-Bouet (Ivory Coast)
* The 5th Overseas Combined Arms Regiment (5th RIAOM) of Djibouti
* The 6th Marine Infantry Battalion (6th BIMa ) from Libreville (Gabon)
There are also 8 Adapted Military Service (SMA) units:
1st RSMA Martinique (Fort-de-France) 2nd RSMA Guadeloupe (Jarry) 3rd RSMA Guyana (Cayenne) 4th RSMA Réunion (Saint-Denis, Saint-Pierre, Helbourg)
GSMA Guyana (Saint-Jean du Maroni) GSMA Mayotte (Combani) GSMA French Polynesia (Mahina, Atuona, Hao, Tubuaï GSMA New Caledonia (Koumac, Koné)