The National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, commonly abbreviated GIGN (French: Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale), is a special operations unit of the French Armed Forces. It is part of the National Gendarmerie and is trained to perform counter-terrorist and hostage rescue missions in France or anywhere else in the world.
The GIGN was formed in 1973. On 1 September 2007, a major reorganization took place. The original GIGN absorbed the Gendarmerie Parachute Squadron (EPIGN) and the thirty gendarmes of the GSPR to form a "new" expanded GIGN.
There are now three distinct parts to the unit:
- Intervention force (the original GIGN)
- Observation & search force (from the former EPIGN)
- Security & protection force (from the former EPIGN and gendarmes from the GSPR)
Read more about National Gendarmerie Intervention Group: History, Structure, Operations, Training, GIGN Leaders, In Fiction
Famous quotes containing the words national, intervention and/or group:
“His mind was strong and clear, his will was unwavering, his convictions were uncompromising, his imagination was powerful enough to invest all plans of national policy with a poetic charm.”
—Woodrow Wilson (18561924)
“I was curious, I was avid to know only what I found more real than myself, that which allowed me to glimpse the thoughts of a great genius, or the force or grace of nature left to its own devices, without the intervention of man.”
—Marcel Proust (18711922)
“Remember that the peer group is important to young adolescents, and theres nothing wrong with that. Parents are often just as important, however. Dont give up on the idea that you can make a difference.”
—The Lions Clubs International and the Quest Nation. The Surprising Years, I, ch.5 (1985)