For four days, the Sidobre will change its face. Blank shots, drones, military convoys and soldiers in combat gear will invest several municipalities around Castres as part of a vast 8th RPIMa exercise. A life-size operation as spectacular as it is unusual. We tell you more.
For four days, the usual calm of Sidobre risks being disrupted. Between country roads, hamlets and granite landscapes, soldiers in combat gear, drones flying overhead and blank shots will be part of the decor. From May 18 to 21, the 8th RPIMa of Castres is organizing for the very first time the “FTX Ulysse” exercise, a vast training operation in open terrain in several municipalities around Castres.
More than 300 soldiers will be mobilized for this military maneuver carried out mainly in the Sidobre sector. Castres, Burlats, Brassac, Lacrouzette, Vabre and Roquecourbe are among the municipalities concerned. The Castres regiment will be supported by the national gendarmerie and a detachment from the 17th regiment artillery.
Detonations of blank bullets
For locals, the experience promises to be unusual to say the least. At certain times of the day, columns of military vehicles may cross the villages, while the detonations of blank bullets will echo in the exercise sectors. Drones will also be used for observation and reconnaissance missions. An almost unreal atmosphere in this territory usually known for its granite chaos, its forests and its rural calm.
But behind this setting worthy of an action film, the objective remains very serious: to prepare the units to intervene in conditions close to reality. The principle of “free terrain” allows soldiers to train in contact with a living environment, with its constraints, its reliefs and its circulation routes.
Specific measures for the event
The Tarn has also become in recent years a real training ground for the French army. In 2023, the Orion exercise – presented as the largest military exercise organized in France for more than thirty years – had already left its mark on the minds of Castres. Spectacular operations involving hundreds of soldiers then temporarily transformed the territory into a conflict simulation zone. The event aroused as much curiosity as astonishment among local residents.
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“ORION”, the giant military exercise led by the French army, stopped at Castres in Tarn
With “FTX Ulysses”, the scale is smaller, but the visual effect promises to be just as striking. Aware of the possible impact on residents, the 8th RPIMa ensures that it has put in place several specific measures: systematic collection of shooting waste, sorting of waste, closing of barriers and gates after troops have passed, as well as a ban on shooting near livestock. A dispute processing unit (joignable au 06Â 45Â 50Â 63Â 39) will also be active throughout the duration of the exercise in order to respond quickly to possible reports.
For a few days, Sidobre will exchange its image of a peaceful haven for that of a full-scale military operations field. An unusual aside that should not go unnoticed…
