Division Daguet.

This is coolbert:

ONLY from yesterday was any of this made clear to me.

That French light armored division as deployed and participating in combat during the First Gulf War NOT necessarily consisting of Frenchmen as that world Frenchmen normally, ordinarily, and commonly understood.

"The French Light Armored Division: The Legacy of the Division Legere Macanique" By Bell, Raymond E., Jr.

"Division Daguet was the French Army's contribution to the United Nations (UN) coalition that defeated Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. I The ad hoc division had no number designation because its elements came from at least five other French divisions."

"One reason for having such a configuration was the French law prohibiting drafted soldiers from serving outside France except as part of NATO. It was necessary to assemble the desired unit from professional soldiers in other formations of the same type."

"The principal reason for this organization was the desire to field a force specifically tailored to battlefield tasks the French could be expected to execute."

"The division core from the 6th Light Armored Division included the 2d Foreign Legion Infantry Regiment (an infantry battalion using wheeled armored personnel carriers-APCs), the I st Regiment of Spahis (an armored reconnaissance battalion-ARB), the Ist Foreign Legion Cavalry Regiment (ARB), the 6th Command and Control Battalion and the 6th Foreign Legion Engineer Regiment"

As it was in the days of the First Indo-China War so it was during the First Gulf War a French conscript COULD NOT BE COMPELLED DURING A TIME OF WAR TO SERVE OUTSIDE OF FRANCE!

That French light armored division as stated an ad hoc composite unit specifically task tailored for the mission and heavily weighted with personnel etranger. French Foreign Legion. That command nucleus of professional soldiers French long-term serving officers!

The French no longer have conscription so this sort of thing will never again be an issue? I think that is so!

coolbert.