Action Division

The core specialisations of the Action Division are sabotage, destruction of materiel, assassination, detaining/kidnapping, interrogation with and without using torture, infiltration/exfiltration of persons into/from hostile territory and hostage rescue.

The division also fulfils other security-related roles including testing the security of strategic sites, for example nuclear power plants and military facilities such as the submarine base of the Île Longue, Bretagne.

In the aftermath of the disastrous Rainbow Warrior affair, the CINC was officially disbanded, and the DGSE combat divers were transferred in the CPEOM.

[1] This unit received the Croix de la Valeur Militaire with bronze palms on 1 June 2012, for having "particularly distinguished itself in a number of very sensitive recent engagements".

[2] After the Second World War, Colonel Jacques Morlanne used a list of former SOE operatives to create a "Service Action" for the SDECE.