15 YEARS IN THE GIGN

The author spent fifteen years in the prestigious Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN), during the Mitterrand era. A pivotal period in which the unit, a pioneer in many fields — particularly military and police intervention techniques — also endured certain political and media tribulations (such as the notorious Vincennes Irish affair), which in reality concerned it only from a great distance. The development of the group, its restructuring, modifications to its organisation, the creation of new units such as the GSPR and the EPIGN (escadron parachutiste d'intervention), and the merger into a single GIGN (groupement de sécurité et d'intervention) bringing together these three structures… Éric Delsaut was a privileged witness to these significant changes. He also took part in a great number of operations, some highly publicised — such as the famous hijacking of Air France flight 8969 from Algiers — others entirely unknown to the general public. Operations he shares here with the reader: taut, tragic, and sometimes even comic scenes of action. The author also describes life within the unit, the loss of comrades during training or on operations, the psychology of GIGN members, their daily lives… What motivates them, too, including the childhood dream that drove him to join this elite unit, at the cost of certain sacrifices.