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France's
Groupement Speciale Autonome (GSA)
(Special Autonomous Group)		 French flag
The French Army's Special Autonomous Group is an independent subcommand within COS (French Special Operations Command). The unit is composed of the 1er RPIMa, the DAOS special operations aviation unit, and three support sections; personnel and training, research and development, and logistics. Commanded by a Brigadier General, the former 1e RPMIa commander, the unit is based at Pau, and operates under the direct control of COS.

GSA is tasked with acting as a link between COS and the French Army. GSA is responsible for developing new equipment for use by Army special operations units; it insures that new equipment is compatible with the equipment in use by the other services, it provides administrative services for its assigned personnel, its staff plans training exercises, and it helps develop joint special operations doctrine. GSA also maintains stocks of specialized equipment and vehicles for units that must deploy rapidly.

-Dominique Sumner
*Note* The above information was obtained from "French Special Forces" by Eric Michelleti.