13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment

13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment
13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes
ActiveOctober 4, 1676 – present
Country France
Branch French Army
TypeSpecial Forces
RoleSpecial Reconnaissance
Part ofFrench Army Special Forces Command
Garrison/HQMartignas-sur-Jalle
Motto(s)Au-delà du possible
(Beyond the possible)
Abbreviation13e RDP

The 13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes (English: 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment) or 13e RDP is a special reconnaissance unit of the French Army. It belongs to the French Army Special Forces Command, and therefore to the Special Operations Command. The regiment is based in Martignas-sur-Jalle.

First raised in 1676 in the form of a regiment of dragoons (mounted cavalry) during the Ancien Regime by the Marquis de Barbezières in Languedoc, this cavalry regiment, one of the oldest, adopted the appellation of 13e Régiment de dragons (13th Dragoon Regiment) during the reorganization of the French cavalry units in 1791. The regiment was then transformed into an armoured unit in 1936, then an airborne-capable reconnaissance unit in 1952.