2nd Armoured Brigade (France)

2nd Armoured Brigade
2e Brigade Blindée
Badge of the 2nd BB
Activec. 1970, 1999–present
CountryFrance
BranchFrench Army
TypeArmour
Size6200 personnel
Part of3rd Division
Garrison/HQStrasbourg
Motto(s)Ne me dites pas que c'est impossible ! ("Do not tell me it is impossible!")
Commanders
Current
commander
General de brigade Vincent Giraud (July 2020 onwards)
Notable
commanders
Général Leclerc

The 2nd Armoured Brigade (French: 2e Brigade Blindée, 2e BB) is an armoured brigade of the French Army. It is heir to the honours and traditions of the 2nd Armoured Division famously commanded by Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque.

In 1970 the 2nd Armoured Brigade at Saint-Germain-en-Laye was part of the 8th Armoured Division, headquartered at Compiègne, alongside two mechanised brigades.[1] In 1977 the 2nd Armoured Brigade appears to have been disbanded, and the 2nd Armoured Division reformed.

The reorganisation of the French Army in 1999 transformed and downsized the 2nd Armoured Division to the 2nd Armoured Brigade.

From 1999 to 2010 the brigade headquarters was located in the quartier Bellecombe in Orléans.

From July 2010 the brigade headquarters was located in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, neighbouring Strasbourg, at the quartier Leclerc (near the 2e Compagnie de Commandement et de Transmissions and the 291st Jäger Bataillon). The general commanding the brigade is at the same time the Military Governor of Strasbourg.[2] He loges in the fr:Palais du Gouverneur militaire de Strasbourg situated in the place Broglie in Strasbourg. Since 2023, the headquarters is also located in Strasbourg.

  1. ^ "French Army 1970–96". Orbat.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Mesures diverses d'ordre individuel du mercredi 14 mai 2014" [Various individual measures from Wednesday May 14, 2014]. defense.gouv.fr (Press release) (in French). Ministère de la défense. 14 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2023.