Foreign Legion Command

Foreign Legion Command
Commandement de La Légion Étrangère
ActiveCommandement de La Légion Étrangère[1]
(1931 - 1984)
Commandement de La Légion Étrangère[1]
C.O.M.L.E (1984 - present)[1]
Country France
Branch French Army
TypeCommand
RoleHeadquarters
HeadquartersAubagne, France
Motto(s)Honneur et Fidélité
Legio Patria Nostra
ColorsGreen and Red
Battle honoursCamerone 1863
Commanders
CommandantBrigadier General Cyrille Youchtchenko[2]
Notable
commanders		Paul-Frédéric Rollet[1]
Insignia
Beret badge of the Foreign Legion Command
AbbreviationC.O.M.L.E

The Foreign Legion Command (French: Commandement de la Légion Étrangère, (COMLE)) (official) is the Command of the Foreign Legion in the French Army.[3][4]

The Legion is led by a French general, a Legion officer (French: Officier de Légion)[1] who is usually a general who spent his entire career in Legion units. COMLE also includes the general staff headquarters of the foreign legion command (French: L’Etat-major du COMLE)[5](official), led by another senior officer, chief of the general staff headquarters of the foreign legion command (French: Chef de L’Etat-major du COMLE) (official).[5][6] As of 2017, the general staff headquarters of the foreign legion command includes several divisions related to the functioning of the Legion.[7] The general staff headquarters of the foreign legion command has adopted various inspecting, grouping, and commanding designations since 1931 and has been designated officially as C.O.M.L.E since 1984.[1] The Général de division commanding the Legion, also known as Father of the Legion (French: Le Père Légion) or Foreign Legion Command Chief (French: Chef COMLE) [8] (official) is a direct subordinate of the Chief of Staff of the French Army (C.E.M.A.T). The Division Général is also the technical counselor commanding for the ensemble related to the Legion (recruitment, traditions, employment, regimental formations and security).[9]

The Divisional general commanding the Legion, commands also the 1st Foreign Regiment, the 4th Foreign Regiment and the Foreign Legion Recruiting Group (G.R.L.E). The GRLE was not formed till 2007.[6] The commands of the C.O.M.L.E division general commandant extends to:

The Music of the Foreign Legion (MLE) is led by the Music Chief.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference legion-etrangere.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ [1] Le COMLE, Le Commandement de la Légion Étrangère (The Commandment of the French Foreign Legion)
  3. ^ "Commandement de la légion étrangère". www.legion-etrangere.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-01-15.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Foreign Legion Command". Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  5. ^ a b [2] L'Etat-major du Commandement de la Légion Étrangère (general staff headquarters of the foreign legion command)
  6. ^ a b Koelher, Charles (31 March 2006). "LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA: THE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION SINCE 1962" (PDF). U.S. General Command and Staff College. p. 69. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  7. ^ [3] L'Etat-major du Commandement de la Légion Étrangère (general staff headquarters of the Foreign Legion Command)
  8. ^ [4] Le C.O.M.L.E, Le Commandement de la Légion Étrangère (C.O.M.L.E, The Foreign Legion Command)
  9. ^ "Foreign Legion Command | French Foreign Legion Information". Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  10. ^ [5] Archived 2017-12-31 at the Wayback Machine History of the French Foreign Legion Music Band