Video

Video by 1st Lt. Danielle Phillips, Sgt. Paul Peterson

U.S. Marines, French Gendarmerie Quiet the Riots (Long Version)

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa

June 23, 2015 | 2:02

U.S. Marines with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa trained alongside the Gendarmerie, at the National Gendarmerie Training Center in Saint Astier, France, June 18-22, 2015. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces tasked with maintaining public safety. Stationed aboard Morón Air Base, Spain, the SPMAGTF-CR-AF serves as a rotational crisis-response force for U.S. Africa Command. Throughout the training, subsequent scenarios continued to build on the last in intensity and violence. Each mission became more complicated as the two forces worked together to respond to escalating urban turmoil. (U.S. Marine Corps video by 1st Lt. Danielle Dixon/Released)
Interviews:
U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Scott Vicino, Chicago, Illinois, platoon commander with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa
French Gendarmerie Maj. Andre Rakoto, Gendarmerie Headquarters, Paris