The
11e choc was meant from the start to constitute a reserve of soldiers available to the French special services. The
11e choc was initially composed of one single battalion, the
11e bataillon parachutiste de choc. From 1 September 1946, it was stationed in
Mont-Louis. In the aftermath of the
Second World War, an "
action service" of the
SDECE was created by
Jacques Morlane. It grouped veterans of the Second World War having served in the
Bataillon de Choc of 1936, in the
1er bataillon de choc (founded in 1943), or as
SOE agents, as well as veterans of Indochina. In spring of 1947, Morlane sent R. Mautaint in
Mont-Louis to train the new unit. Mautaint had authored numerous reports on SOE training that inspired that of the French services. In July 1947, as the complement of the
11e choc grew, Morlane nominated
Paul Aussaresses to replace Mautaint. Aussaresses described his mission as "perform what was by then called '
psychological warfare', wherever it was necessary, notably in Indochina (...) I trained my men for clandestine operations, airborne or otherwise, that could range from building demolition to sabotage or elimination of enemies". From 1952, elements of the
11e choc were sent to Indochina to lead and train the
Groupement de commandos mixtes aéroportés (GCMA), though the 11e Choc did not take part in the conflict as a unit. Back from Indochina in 1952, Aussaresses was tasked to assassinate supporters of the
FLN. Morlane "was convinced that a Soviet invasion was imminent, and had been busy constituting secret weapon caches all over the territory so that, when time would come, a resistance could be organised". On 1 October 1955, a
12e bataillon parachutiste de choc was created. It was stationed in
Calvi and
Corte, in Corsica. Together, the 11th and 12th Battalions were the
11e demi-brigade parachutiste de choc (
11e DBPC), also formed on 1 October. The insignia of the
12e BPC featured an eagle and a star on a parachute background. In late October 1956, elements of both battalions took part in the
Suez Crisis. The
12e BPC was disbanded on 30 April 1957 and immediately re-created as the
1er bataillon parachutiste de choc. Its insignia featured a dagger with a map of France as background, and its motto was
En pointe toujours ("at the tip, always"). From 1 May 1957, the
11e DBPC was thus constituted of the 11th BPC, the 1st BPC and the ''bataillon d'instruction spécialisé'' (BIS, "training special battalion"), based in Calvi, Corté, Collioure, and Mont-Louis. During the
Algerian War, the 11e Choc at first deployed a ''groupement léger d'intervention
(GLI, "light intervention group"), and later a groupement de marche'' (GM 11.DBPC), as well as local antennas of the "action service", and a specialised detachment called DS 111. The
11e Choc did not take part in the
Algiers putsch of 1961, but some officers did sympathise towards the putschists. The unit was disbanded on 31 December 1963 and its standard handed over to the
National Commando Training Center at
Mont-Louis. In 1985, general
René Imbot, director of the
DGSE, re-created the
11e Choc as the
11e régiment parachutiste de choc (11e RPC). In 1988, elements took part in the
Ouvéa cave assault. The restructuring of the French Intelligence and Special Operations organs following the
Gulf War entailed the disbanding of the 11e RPC on 31 December 1993. == Commanding officers ==