The Mobile Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Mobile), also named « La Jaune » (The Yellow), it is organized in seven Regions of the Mobile Gendarmerie (one for each of the seven military regions of metropolitan France, called (Zones de Défense). It comprises 18 Groupings (Groupements de Gendarmerie mobile) featuring 109 squadrons for a total of approx. 11,300 personnel.
Its main responsibilities are:
· crowd and riot control
· general security in support of the Departmental Gendarmerie
· military and defense missions
· missions that require large amounts of personnel (Vigipirate counter-terrorism patrols, searches in the countryside...)
Nearly 20% of the Mobile Gendarmerie squadrons are permanently deployed on a rotational basis in the French overseas territories. Other units deploy occasionally abroad alongside French troops engaged in military operations (called external operations or OPEX).
The civilian tasks of the mobile gendarmerie are similar to those of the police units known as Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS), for which they are often mistaken. Easy ways to distinguish them include:
· the uniform of the CRS is dark blue, the mobile gendarmerie are clad in black jackets and dark blue trousers;
· the CRS wear a big red CRS patch; the gendarmes have stylised grenades.
· the helmet of the mobile gendarmerie is blue. The CRS helmet is black with two yellow stripes
The Mobile Gendarmerie includes GBGM (Groupement Blindé de la Gendarmerie Nationale), an Armoured grouping composed of seven squadrons equipped with VXB armoured personnel carriers, better known in the Gendarmerie as VBRG (Véhicule Blindé à Roues de la Gendarmerie, "Gendarmerie armoured wheeled vehicle"). It is based at Versailles-Satory. The unit also specializes in CBRN defense.