 We are in France this week, embedded with the Tactical Special Police Unit, with over a hundred anti-terror missions, organized crime and hostage rescue operations every single year. We will see how the operational mode of these French tactical officers of the GIGN is very similar to the Israeli Yaman. As we film at the GIGN headquarters itself, confusion and disorder offer victory to the adversary. Those words were written in the 6th century BC by the Chinese General Sun Tzu. A strategy adopted and applied to the letter by these gendarmes of the GIGN. While we are in an abandoned complex, several buildings with multiple levels in the suburbs of Paris, while these men gear up and adjust their sights, our eye is drawn to a T-shirt. The one with the letters CTU, Counter Terrorism Unit, the Israeli Yaman, received by this French gendarm during the joint training with the Israeli police officers from the anti-terror unit. We have a training site, a large facility available to us which allows us to train in large spaces, really big areas, so it's ideal for working in platoons. It means you will run a model of this mission in a public area. Yes, exactly, so here, this type of space is like an office, so it allows us to work as a platoon with up to 15 or 20 people, to operate, to do investigative work, to move forward in this environment, to free hostages, to arrest an individual. How often do you perform this type of drill? Of this type, three or four training sessions a week. Today's exercise, a hostage situation. The order is given. We have to move forward, even in complete darkness, they cannot miss a single clue to find the hostage takers, whoever they may be. To make things even harder and more challenging today, they will have to manage without the use of any communications devices, only body gestures. These men advance quietly in absolute calm. It's a bit, let's say, that we train for, well our goal is to arrest them, our aim is to stop terrorists, who aren't always terrorists by the way, so to free hostages and bring those who may be exposed to the situation to safety, then we choose our modes of movement. Is it a successful run, what we are seeing right now? What we've just done, well it's a success, we're working on a technical level, in other words, there's no particular theme, the people aren't geared up, so we're not really working on the individual's technique, meaning how they move and how they get into the rooms. It's like an orchestrated ballet, everyone knows what to do. The movements, the looks, the positions, everything is precise. D-Day, no room for mistakes. We're right there with them, to speak to the section chief, we have to whisper. But today, the rules of the game will change, I will become their target, a madman, a terrorist or a lone wolf, I'll hide in the corner to surprise them. These gendarmes from the GIGN intervention force do not know if I'm armed or if I have explosives, no one knows, not even my own team. But being the intervention pros that they are, they'll find me in less than a minute and neutralize the threat. Here are the pictures. Don't move. If you come closer, I'll shoot. Matias, show us your hands, show me your hands. The second one too. Raise both your hands, show me your hands. Do you have anything on you? I have a gun, I have a gun. Ok, maybe you can kneel down and put it down gently. Like this Matias, it's going to be ok. Gentle gestures, come on. He's shot in the shoulder, he's hit. Matias, can you hear me? Matias? Ok, we fired a round, we're going to call for backup. Matias, can you hear me? Matias? Can you hear me? Ok, I'll take care of you. What is remarkable is that we could not hear them coming, it was very quick. During the operation I was blinded by a strong light and a red point. The tension is high, I tried to get to a weapon, but I was neutralized first. I wanted to take out a weapon, I was immediately neutralized. Another exercise, even more complex, this shield called the Ramses, used often by the assault column of the GIGN intervention force. Like an Egyptian pharaoh, it is powerful, dominating and has lateral projection. It is massive. Moving with such an object is more complex and much slower. It is very effective in places like this. To see and hear what they could not, the technical division and its special means section accompanies the team. And here we are in the Special Resources Warehouse. We could call it a technological unit. Is that what we can call it, Chief K? Yes, a specialty, a group of specialists, technicians dedicated to one particular mission, the GIGN. This is where we meet K. The operator is an essential part of this technical division. He accompanies the intervention force and responds to alerts at the same rate as they do, operating technology that will support the mission. Exactly. It also allows us to understand the needs of operators in the field, so that we can try to find the most appropriate solutions to their problems, because that's our ultimate goal. Can you show us the different tools you are using in this technological special unit? So each operator is capable of deploying a set of resources that he has as his disposal, or that he uses to launch specific missions, be it drones, robots, various and diverse sensors. The aim is to provide intelligence to help the team moving forward. How are you always keeping ahead of the terrorist or criminals? The aim is to provide intelligence to help the team move forward. You have to place yourself in their shoes, but you also have to be constantly on the lookout for what's new and stay imaginative. Keep up to date with what's new, and that way, it means you're always ready. Back to the exercise. We find K, the operator of special means, by himself with his drone. He repeats the same gestures over and over. His control over the device is absolute. Improving of the importance of each team member in the assault column, in the light and in the dark. It is more than an hour's drive from Versailles that we meet these exceptional men, in a military camp where they received long and harsh training for more than a year before being accepted into this elite force of the French National Gendarmerie. In front of them, training vehicles which act as targets serve to protect these fighters. As you can see in these images, these men are shadowing and they're met with heavy fire. They must react. And in this specific case, the first to respond to the shots is the passenger. On the front line, he is also vulnerable. They have several scenarios. First, two in a car. As soon as the first shots are fired, the driver gets out of the vehicle. What's important here is to know your teammate's position, not entering his line of fire, a well orchestrated dance. In all our training sessions, we place a great deal of importance on being in the same situation as we might encounter it out there as much as possible, whether it's a mission or whatever awaits us. That's why, particularly in today's sessions, we're working both technically on getting out of vehicles, on support, on precise shooting and team communication. And yet the theory here seems so far from the practice because the reality has its own codes and ambush is never the same. Enemy shooters are never placed in the same location, so we have to adapt. That's why it's necessary to train all types of incidents and attacks with live fire. Here there are three in a car, but one seated in the back of the vehicle can be used for fire support of the passenger to cover him while he's extracted. The firepower is impressive. The shots are mostly selective. Just listen, all of these bullets hit their targets. Here in an intervention made in a confined space, several different sessions of operations, short assault scenarios that these men have already rehearsed thousands of times. Here there is no room for error. There too we seek to neutralize, not to kill. Gemma Reti, thank you for inviting us to your security sanctuary, the holy grail of the French gendarmerie. The GIGN, one of the most prestigious elite units of the French gendarmerie, the most prestigious unit if you could perhaps define in a few words the heritage of the GIGN. Yes, I started with the GIGN in the mid 90s, just after the plane hijacking in Marinette. I'm fortunate enough to still be here, 27 years later. This unit has changed a lot. When I joined the GIGN, we were only 80 people in the unit, dedicated solely for intervention. Today, the mission spectrum expanded, meaning everything from hostage-taking to madmen, but also a great deal of judicial police work, including arresting the perpetrators of homicide, or armed robberies, killers, and drug traffickers. But it's also about protection. Today, GIGN is present in 16 countries around the world, mainly to protect ambassadors to cover all travel needs. You were recently active in Africa, is that correct? Exactly. Last month, we intervened in Sudan for the evacuation of a French national, focusing mainly on the diplomatic corps, but ultimately to take part in the other missions to shelter French and other foreign nationals. And the third mission is intelligence gathering. This means all kinds of tailing, anything that can provide intelligence for the normal police, and to move the investigation. So it also involves installing tracker devices on vehicles, cameras, and microphones, maybe in an apartment, or other, let's say, houses, in the broadest sense of the term. The GIGN's motto is committed for life, in a way to be ready to give up your own to protect others. So that's one aspect of a lifelong commitment. That's the motto of the GIGN. You have to accept to give up your own life to save the life of others. So that is the first meaning of committing for life. But it also means committing for the life of one's opponent. Our job is to bring the bad guys to justice. We're not vigilantes, so we're going to try and hold our use of weapons, even if it means taking a certain amount of risk. Our aim is really to bring them back alive. For us, the success of a mission is with the perpetrator brought to justice, alive and without injury. 1974, the founding year of the GIGN, also the founding year of the Yamam. The anti-terror unit of the Israeli police. You're very close. In fact, you were recently in Israel. Can you tell me about this connection, the bond between these very similar units? So it's true that there is a historical link. We were both created in 1974, mainly following the Munich hostage crisis. We're pretty much sister units. In other words, in our mechanisms, in our size, in the way we think. We recognize a lot of ourselves in the Yamam. They have been a great source of inspiration for us in many missions, on many developments, on the know-how that we have been able to acquire within the GIGN. And maybe they, reciprocally, have been inspired by us. Thank you, General. 50 years of history, 50 years of missions, and above all, techniques which have been refined and perfected. It has been more than 15 years since this technique was designed and implemented by the GIGN, since then has been exported to the best canine units, including in Israel, notably to the Yamam. We are talking about the famous dog guiding techniques using lasers. This allows the forces not to be in immediate contact with explosive substances, as seen in these images from several angles. It is very impressive. We perfectly feel the fear of such a dog running and turning around us. But the way the dog is perfectly coordinated with his handler is quite remarkable. If, for example, we see immediately that the subject is wearing an explosive belt, we might not send the dog. We might send bomb traps. Then it will be up to the platoon leader or its deputy, according to the sensitivity of the mission, to decide whether to send the dog to actually determine whether or not we're dealing with explosives. Is it a fully-fledged fighter? Yeah, I don't really like the term fighter. That's my partner. It's my teammate. That's it. We work with him on a daily basis, and we do everything we can to protect him. Thank you, and thanks, Luther. Merci. Uncompromising composure. This is exactly what characterizes les gendarmes of the intervention force, but they may be clear. Using their weapon should be a last resort, whatever that weapon may be, a 9-millimeter piston or a salt rifle. These officers of the GIGN are training two or three times a week with their team members, in addition, of course, to their personal training sessions to always be ready during an incident. Technique is also the objective of this exercise, perilous, some would say. But for these gendarmes, it's purely habitual. Another exercise, boarding an army helicopter, abseiling to the scene of the intervention and being airlifted into a basket. So before we start, we equip ourselves and, above all, inspect each other. Once on board, the men get into position before harnessing themselves to begin an abseiling descent. The use of helicopters is certainly not daily, but it must be perfectly mastered in the event to quickly deploy to the scene and also for possible extractions. According to the intervention force, sliding down on a smooth robe implies fighters are carrying less heavy equipment and, above all, fewer men on board than a traditional convoy by car. Once on the ground, they continue their missions on foot. The fact that today we can train daily for challenging situations will make it easier for us to respond tomorrow to threats that will be more or less challenging. Why this type of training with the pods, with the helicopter? Is this scenario you can come across? Because the helicopter, the Puma, is one of our vehicles, like the motorcycles. We train with different vectors that we have to work with every day to maintain these capabilities. So you have to be ready day and night. These videos are quite exceptional. It's rare to receive this type of access to film this type of night exercise in a helicopter, an exercise that will last until the break of dawn. Peace and serenity all the time, including for this coordinated shot, six snipers, a target and a story from 1976 of the GIGN mission in Djibouti. Beyond confidence, reliability, the objective of such a shot is the ability to neutralize several targets with a single blast heard. That's the operational reason for this shot. Was this type of shooting used in operations? Was it effective on the ground? Exactly. This shot was used in 1976 in Djibouti, when some 30 children were being held by several terrorists in a school bus. And five terrorists were neutralized by a single shot by GIGN sniper team. It is I who will get to test the coordinated fire capabilities of the GIGN intervention force snipers that day. At the end of five days, spent as close as possible to these men who make up this elite unit of the French gendarmerie. This is a very important moment in the career of these GIGN operatives. They are the elites of this French special police unit, the coordinated shot and the absolute trust between the snipers, their commanders and this journalist. See you all next week on I-24 News.