| Country: | France |
| Details of Formation: | The group was set up with assistance from the CIA and British intelligence. |
| Details of Termination: | Gladio was disbanded by the President in 1990. |
| Purpose: | The group was intended as a fighting force prepared to counter a possible Warsaw Pact invasion. In this case, it was meant to conduct guerilla warfare and sabotage activities. |
| Organisation: | The PGM was coordinated by NATO and run by military secret services in close cooperation with the CIA and British Secret Intelligence Service. In France, only the Prime Minister and Defence Ministers were told it existed. |
| Weapons and Training: | The group trained with the US Green Berets and the British Special Air Services (SAS) and was equipped from underground arms caches. |
| Size: | -- |
| Reason for Membership: | -- |
| Treatment of Civilians: | There were allegations that, in some countries, the group was responsible for right-wing terrorist attacks. |
| Other Information: | The group had connections to other European networks of Gladio in Italy, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland. The network of groups may have some semi-official status within the intelligence community. But the group was hidden even from some domestic governments and prime ministers. The groups were ultimately answerable to NATO-CIA rather than to domestic governments in event of attack by members of the Warsaw Pact. |
| References: |
Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD. Wikipedia. Operation Gladio. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Gladio&oldid=763490893 |