Posted on 03/08/2025 10:30:50 AM PST by buwaya
Noting the way to start evaluating Euro military situations. One begins with the official structure/org chart, which this is, the source being it seems the Code of Defense of 2016.
The org chart here breaks down into battalions - more or less. Some places where one must exercise caution is the nature of these units. In many cases in France for instance a Regiment (three bars above the unit symbol) such as the 2e régiment d'infanterie de marine, is not a Regiment in the US meaning, but a battalion size unit. Its officially got 1100 men in five line companies, or as per the French ministry of defense, https://www.defense.gouv.fr/terre/unites-larmee-terre/nos-regiments/2e-regiment-dinfanterie-marine
Regroupant 1100 combattants, le régiment s’articule autour de :
cinq compagnies de combat ; une compagnie d‘éclairage et d’appui ; une compagnie de logistique ; une compagnie de réserve.
and one has to apply further realities here, in that this is not likely to be up to strength - this applies to all armies, and worse in peacetime. Men on the TOE are not likely to be all deployable. Practically in peacetime deployments one may end up merging sub units from two or more "battalions" into one deployable unit. In France former soldiers can be recalled to the colors, as reservists, as that is part of the enlistment obligation, and there is also a reserve component of people who enlist into the reserve. How many of these people France actually has is unclear.
The Regiments in the French Org chart are obviously designed to be "filled out" into multi-battalion formations but I doubt available reservists will suffice for that. In that case they will have to be conscripts, and there will be many months before that's likely to happen, as there is no conscription, for now.
Also, “The last Adventurer” Rolf Steiner
Pour Les Belges y en a plus
Ce sont des tireurs au cul
Funniest bit. Its the sort of ball-breaking done to this day.
Q: Why are the red & blue sections of French flags attached on with velcro?
A: So they can be quickly converted into all-white flags of surrender.
.... And other ones I can't remember, that were posted on FR some decades back.
Which reminds me of a joke shared by members of German Panzer units in the WWII N Africa campaign:
"Did you know that Italian tanks have 6 speeds? One forward, and 5 in reverse."
This joke caused a German Minister of Defense to almost lose his job in the 70s, when he was reviewing a NATO forces parade as the tanks rolled by, and he turned to someone sitting next to him to say, "The tanks remind me of a joke we used to tell in the Panzers...." A nearby journalist overheard the joke, published it, and the Italian Govt called for this guy's head: "How *DARE* a high official of one of our allies disparage our military?!?"
What seemed to be lost on the Italian Govt was that this joke referred to an alliance long preceding NATO. One known as The Axis.
That makes me think of Earl Butz for some reason.
Read, “Mouthful of Rocks “ by a Brit who joined the Legion in the 80s. The title references a means by which recruits were discouraged from speaking their native languages in training...
Wikipedia's re-telling of the joke is different than I remembered it (substitute "pair of knockers" for "shoes").
I thought I also once heard that he reached the highest GS rating of any government employee ever (like 30-something?), but can find no mention of that now.
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