By the fall, the fourth French civil security unit will be operational and mobilizable for emergency missions in France and around the world. 600 soldiers will be based in Libourne in Gironde with their families. A presentation of the unit was organized for the residents.
The enthusiasm is infectious among the 600 people who came to learn about the details of the installation of this 4th civil security unit. “It will bring a little more life to Libourne.”said this gentleman with a smile. “It’s going to bring a lot of things to the city, to the businesses, it’s going to be great!”
The same goes for the town councillor, Philippe Buisson. “10 months later, it’s moving to present it to the people of Libourne. We are on a military site, in concrete terms.” The mayor is delighted to welcome new administrators. “That’s 1,500 people, 600 soldiers who come with their families. That is to say several hundred children in our schools, 50 to 60 births per year…” He is also aware of the scale of the task to supervise this new blood in Libourne which will have an effect in economic, demographic and mobility terms.
The installation of this new UIISC4 is called “Operation Phoenix” because it is quite simply the return of theInstruction and Intervention Unit (UIISC 4)dissolved in 1999 in Libourne in the Lamarque barracks which closed in 2009.
On August 2, 2023, Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, came to announce, in this same place, the creation of the unit. This May 14, a meeting was organized to present it to the people of Libourne.
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By the fall, the fourth French civil security unit will be operational and mobilizable for emergency missions in France and around the world. 600 soldiers will be based in Libourne in Gironde with their families. A presentation of the unit was organized for the inhabitants of the city Gironde.
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©France televisions
A phoenix operation is doubly so since this rebirth occurs after the historic fires of 2022 in the South-West. A unit which will therefore be particularly specialized in forest fires, but also able to intervene in different types of disasters or natural disasters, in support of local rescue teams.
The USC4 in Libourne can intervene in industrial disasters, in France and abroad, in support of local relief efforts.
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© Civil Security
Colonel Jean-Philippe Nicot reminds that these rescuers can intervene “anywhere on French territory in mainland France or the overseas territories, but also abroad, as soon as the State initiates relief.”.
They carry out major missions “following major disasters which exceed local rescue capacities”on forest fires of course, but also following earthquakes, storms, cyclones, floods and in the theater of industrial disasters.
Recent engagements have taken the military both to Libya during the floods of September 2023 where a field hospital had been set up, and to Turkey, after the earthquake of February 2024, to help in the search and rescue of people buried under the rubble.
The unit will be operational in the fall, but until then recruitment continues for Libourne as in the already existing units. “We will increase our workforce by nearly 700 people by 2027“. Recruitment is done through the military route of people between 18 and 25 years old, both lifeguards and other professions such as cooks or human resources managers…
While listing the know-how and key missions of the rescuers, the colonel specifies with a smile, “we will promote the name of Libourne all over the world. We will say, it is the USC4 of Libourne which intervenes“. The installation of the unit in Libourne is an operation worth around 400 million euros.
