GIGN (Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale) is France's top counter-terrorist force and also considered as one of the world's best. GIGN commandos are cross-trained in a variety of specialties, including CQB, scuba diving, sniping, parachuting, and explosives.
Because GIGN is part of the Gendarmerie Nationale, which is a national police force administered by the Ministry of Defense, the unit's primary tasking has been in law enforcement operations. Since GIGN's creation in 1974, it has been involved in countless incidents that have freed over 500 hostages and made twice as many arrests.