Enlisted membership consisted of 30 to 60 percent Moslem volunteers, mostly harkis, "turned" ALN fighters, and veterans of regular French army units.

[3][1]Many times their mission involved long-range penetration for a quick raiding to destroy enemy hideouts, special operations behind enemy lines to capture or kill high-value targets (most were killed more than captured), and special reconnaissance to intelligence gathering on enemy movements.

The Commandos were designated by either a K (for Kimono) or P (for Partisan) prefix followed by a number.

[3][1][2] They were equipped with standard French army small arms and light machine guns, mainly of 9mm MAT 49 submachine guns, 7.5mm MAS 36 bolt-action rifles, MAS 49 semi-automatic rifles and MAS 49/56 grenade launcher rifles, some AA52 light machine guns, which supplanted and then replaced the FM 24-29 light machine guns, as well as offensive and defensive hand grenades.

[1][3][2] This article about a specific French military unit is a stub.