Because of their overseas heritage and their use in the Force d'Intervention, the ' were mostly volunteer regulars, as in France, draftees are legally exempt from overseas duty. The conversion of the French Army into a smaller professional force led to the French Army's decision to make the brigade its largest formation and the ' was reduced in size on 1 July 1999 and became the 9th Light Armoured Marine Brigade (France) ("") and then back to the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade (9ème Brigade d'Infanterie de Marine) in 2016.