Elevating Expertise: French High Mountain Military School Expands with New Unit.

As part of the "Combat Ground Army" transformation and to strengthen the excellence of the French Army, particularly the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade, in mountain and extreme cold operations, since August 1st, the High Mountain Military School has expanded by integrating the Mountain Conditioning Group (GAM) of Modane.
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Reservists from the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment, at the Rochilles camp in Valloire from December 15 to 16, 2022.(Picture source: French MoD)

Conditioning consists of a set of processes that contribute to improving the operational aptitude of men and women by confronting them with physical and psychological difficulties imposed by the execution of missions in extreme and hostile environments.

Belonging to the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (27th BIM) and based in Chamonix since 1932, the High Mountain Military School, EMHM, is the mountain and extreme cold expertise center of the Armed Forces. It trains all specialist officers (27th BIM, special forces, land and joint support) in techniques of movement (mountaineering, skiing, paragliding) and crossing, stationing, combat, risk management in environments, up to expeditions on all continents. Furthermore, as a pioneer in this training delegation, the EMHM trains the young non-commissioned officers of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade. Since August 1, 2024, the EMHM has been expanded with a 4th unit by integrating the Mountain Conditioning Group of Modane and its 35 soldiers, alongside the mountain and extreme cold training, tactical training, and high mountain military group divisions.

The integration of the GAM within the EMHM, a culmination of work initiated several years ago, perfectly fits into the transformation of the Ground Army. By bringing its capabilities and skills on the conditioning of non-specialist units in the environment, on survival and motorized mobility in the mountains and extreme cold, the GAM broadens the missions of the EMHM and reinforces its legitimacy as a unique military expertise center of global reference.

Motorized mobility in the mountains and extreme cold represents all the materials (High Mobility Vehicle (VHM), HT270, snowmobile, quad with or without tracks) and associated specialized skills.

The 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (27th BIM) is subordinate to the 1st Division and constitutes the Mountain Emergency Brigade of the Ground Army, the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (27th BIM) is subordinate to the 1st Division. Its particularity is to be able to carry out all its missions in steep and/or mountainous terrain and in extreme weather conditions. Created in 1888 to defend the Alps border, the mountain troops have been from the beginning a specialized inter-arms force in mountain warfare. Pioneers in the collective practice of mountaineering, they largely contributed to the introduction of skiing in France. The particularity of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade is to be able to carry out all its missions in steep and/or mountainous terrain and in extreme weather conditions. The "mountain specificity" is defined as the set of moral, physical, technical, and tactical skills, whether individual or collective, to live, move, and fight in an environment characterized by high or rugged terrain and in extreme weather conditions. Mastery of the environment implies three particular capacities: the ability to move and overcome natural obstacles, the ability to live over time, and the ability to command and fight.

The 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade is present in all recent engagements of the French Army such as Mali, Lebanon, Djibouti, Chad, Central African Republic, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Afghanistan every winter since 2008 in the province of Kapisa.