The army and sport have a long history and we can even say that it was the army that invented modern team sport. There were already in the 19th century a military gymnastics school in Saint-Maur. Old photos of young men in striped shirts, mustaches on bicycle handlebars bear witness to this. Then it was Fort de Vincennes which welcomed the athletes until the creation of the Battalion de Joinville in 1956 in Fontainebleau.
They are many sports stars to have left the Joinville battalion. The list is long, prestigious and forgive me, here, not exhaustive: Jacques Anquetil, Just Fontaine, Fabien Barthez, Lilian Thuram, Yannick Noah, Michel Platini, Laurent Fignon, Henri Leconte, David Douillet, Guy Drut, Florent Manaudou, and Bixente Lizarazu, 1998 world champion and now sports consultant on France Bleu.
The end of military service in the 2000s will profoundly change the Bataillon de Joinville, but there is still a sports unit. The future great champions commit themselves for five years. In addition to practicing their favorite sport, the athletes have a representative role within the French army.
And I refer you if you want to immerse yourself in this magnificent story, to the excellent work of Denis Soula and Joël Szpindel, very well documented, it is simply called “Le Bataillon de Joinville”, Cherche Midi edition.