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If you have ever wondered about the French involvement in the First Gulf War, this seems like a good resource: https://pierrebayle.typepad.com/pensees_sur_la_planete/guerre-du-golfe/ it includes interviews with plenty of senior French officers and journos who were there, and some unique images too.
An interesting take away for me is the reference to the FAR, a French rapid reaction force that was used to respond to situations as they arose. It was deployed in the 70s, to Beirut in the 80s and to Iraq in the 1990s. Every time with only a few days' notice.
The US commended the FAR for its rapid mobility during the offensive phase of the war, and the AMX-10RC deployed by the 1st Saphi Regt moved further than any other unit during the first day of the offensive. The formation was designed to conduct mobile counter-offensives.
This was against the Soviets of course, and it wholeheartedly rejected the US/British approach of digging tanks in to fight to the death, preferring instead to move quickly and strike hard at vulnerable points.
There are certain parallels between this force and the one deployed to Mali, as well as the future force envisioned under project SCORPION. Perhaps, the French forces learned certain lessons from WW2, that being stationary is not good? With that, I am done for the day. Night.
