La fin du régiment ? Trente ans de déstructuration de l'organisation tactique régimentaire
The new organization of land forces breaks with a centuries-old tactical order: the regiment. Born out of political constraints that have shaped its history, the regimental order has accompanied the rise of the nation state; the Third Republic, for instance, entrusted it with political, social, and cultural functions.
The implementation of the so-called modular organization of the Army - which is disrupting the regimental principle - stems likewise from political developments that, in this case, first emerged in the early 1980s. Caught between demands for additional engagements abroad and the reality of scarce resources to accomplish such objectives, the Army is forced to cobble together ad hoc solutions. As a result, the tactical organization of the regiment has been deconstructed: the body of troops, thus dismantled, has been transformed into a "reservoir of resources." At the turn of the century, military austerity had led to the normalization and standardization of this practice of "modular" tactical organization, which seizes from the regiment what is needed to equip task forces deployed in distant theaters. At the same time, this policy requires joint defense bases to aggregate the resources that once provided the regiment with its autonomy. In short, it's unclear what the commanding officer is now commanding. Is this the end of the regiment?
This content is available in French: La fin du régiment ? Trente ans de déstructuration de l’organisation tactique régimentaire
Author(s)
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programs
Security Studies Center
Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
Fury from the Skies. A Strategic Analysis of Air Campaign against Iran
What is the outcome of Operations Roaring Lion (RL) and Epic Fury (EF), launched by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28, 2026?
Finland: The Ally Who Came in from the Cold
Among all European countries, Finland is perhaps the one whose strategic culture and military model have changed the least since the end of the Cold War. Built after the end of the Second World War to deter a potential new Soviet invasion, this model enabled Finland to serve as an example of European rearmament.
Stability under Pressure. A Pakistani View on Nuclear Deterrence after Pahalgam
The May 2025 India-Pakistan crisis after the Pahalgam attack has generated a familiar but incomplete debate: did nuclear deterrence work, or did it merely allow both sides to fight a limited war under the nuclear shadow? The better answer is that deterrence worked at the level at which it was designed to work. It prevented a general war and an uncontrolled vertical escalation, and kept nuclear weapons in the background. But it did not prevent India from attempting to carve out space for conventional action, nor did it prevent Pakistan from responding conventionally to restore deterrence credibility.
