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Foreign Legion

  • Thread starter Thread starter donkon
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donkon

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Ok i visted their site because i‘ve been told by many people to go for this. But i still dont understand ****.

They say on the site that the army is formed from people escaping from other countries.

Also i dont get it, do you fight for the farking french?? I have nothing to do with them why would i fight for them??

Are they special forces?? if not wtf are they.

They look pretty crazy though.

Also the army looks like its filled with criminals cause they say once you join you leave your past behind and anyone or any authorities chasing your *** cant do jack
 
Omg i just read this.

Basically they are killing machines. It says on their official site a legioneer will never leave an enemy alive. Woot thats sick.

there requirments are awesome too. I think i might be joining them.

- 30 pushups.
- 50 situps.
- Climb a 20 foot rope without using your feet.
- Run 10 kilometres with a 12 kilogram rucksack in less than one hour.
- 20 chinups with your palms away from you as you grip the bar.
 
Omfg i just read that hundreds of people escape from the army cause they dont know what they are getting into. And they actually tell you this :

The easiest means of deserting is to wait until your unit is granted leave. You should then have at least two weeks to find a way out of France.

lol on the orginal site! haha

Just posting this cause this is very interesting and i might actually be going. Everyone in that army has to go through para training and atleast 1 commando training!

Sick
 
poeple go in the french Foreign Legion to die... seriously. Unless you have something big to hide, i dont think you should go there.
 
its not so much a haven for criminals as it used to be. more people nowadays join it because it is so elite. you technically are fighting for france - but are usually posted to french colonies in south america, africa, southeast asia, or an island off france.

They give you a new name and when your 5 yrs of service is up they give you a few options - keep your new name, theyll give you a new french passport with french citizenship, keep your old life, go on for another term (you get promoted), and such
 
The French Foreign Legion are literally mercenaries. Despots and dictators of banana republics shell out a bunch of money to hire extra muscle to do their dirty work, which does not necessarily end at the enemy and killing women and children.

I‘ll bet they don‘t advertise on the site that a recruit will stand a good chance at being beaten to a pulp during the course of his indoctrination and that they reject a lot of people.
 
Whats the difference in "training" between a Canadian soldier and a legionnaire ?
 
SpinDoc where did you hear that the Legion kills women and children. I high doubt that France would allow that even in their colonies, that sounds too much like France bashing to me. But if you can prove that I would sure like to read it.

Joining the Legion Don Kon is not something you should take lightly. They will use as shock as troops and you‘ll stand a better chance of meeting death in the legion than in most other armies. You said you were Polish, if you don‘t want to join the CF, then join the Polish army. Their rebuilding and you‘ll stand a better of going up in rank, and you‘ll treated way better than the Legion. Although it sounds like you just want to join the army to shoot and blow things up..... so I don‘t the CF is right fit for you.
 
Not bashing the French (or the Spaniards...) -- I‘m not one of those "Freedom Fries" people, just parroting what an ex-Legionaire told me about his experiences. I‘m just bashing mercenaries if I‘m bashing anyone. Their ROE is a lot less restrictive than most conventional forces.

I think someone interested should read "Mouthful of Rocks" by Christian Jennings.
 
The Leggion is basically an Elite Army. IN the legion they train you to not fear death, basically consider yourself already dead. Its some of the most intense miliatry training you can get, people die doing this. If you dont follow an order they‘ll shoot you on the spot, even worse if your caught going AWOL. IN your term of the 5 yrs in the french legion you UNDOUBTLY wuill see action, death, murder, war. They do give you a new identity. There training compared to the CF.. lets just say that they train so well that they said American Delta and JTF2 to train with the french legionares coursesm, Which people do die on. Basically ya your the Shocktroopers. Where other nations wouldnt consider sending in there soldiers because of it being suicide the legion probably wouldnt hesitate. Youll get lots of French colonie stuff and things that the public doesnt know about. Lots of action coming ( N. Korea, Russia started there nuc. program again, i hear.. ) I wouldnt recommened it..... The only way you can join the FFL is to not be french.
 
Oh I just love it when someone comes up with totally incorrect misconceptions about the Legion. Mind I sort of expect this mercenary, baby eating, killing machine drivel to come from the mouths of sandal wearing, granola eating, university attending, NDP voting, wankers from lotus land rather than from the people on this board.

The Legion Etranger is an integral part of the French regular army, period. When it was first developed in the early 1800s it was part of the Colonial Army which was a separate entity altogether.

The Colonial Army consisted of the regiments of the Legion and regiments of colonial/native troops raised for and employed in maintaining and expanding the empire. An analogy, although not a good one would be akin to the old British Indian Army. The French Colonial Army more or less ceased to be after the loss of Indo China and Algeria and the remnants of the Legion were incorporated in the regular army.

When formed the Legion was initially prohibited from serving or being based in France. Mind that little rule was conveniently forgotten during the Franco Prussian War, WWI and WWII. Now the units are fully integrated into regular French formations.

For example 1REC (Regiment Etranger Cavalerie) is a light armoured regiment that is part of a French armoured division. It by the way is tasked with protecting the French Strategic Nuclear Missile Silos. 2REP (Regiment Etranger Parachutistes) is an airborne Battalion that is part of the 11th Airborne Division.

Many of the units of the Legion are assigned to brigades and divisions that are part of the Force Action Rapide the French rapid deployment force, a Corps made up of airmobile, airborne, armoured, marine, and mountain divisions. As such they have participated in recent wars and interventions as part of French Government policy, not as hired mercenaries.

Examples are Gulf War 1, West African interventions, and peace keeping in the Balkans and Lebanon. Legion units are more politically expedient in such operations, and better trained, than conscripts.

Some units like 2REP also provide training and security teams to friendly nations in the same way as the British SAS does.

Some of the units of the Legion have been assigned to permanent hardship postings. 3REI (Regiment Etranger Infantier) is based permanently in French Guinea in South America guarding the satellite launching facilities in the jungle there. 13 DBLE
(Demi Brigade Legion Etranger) was part of the permanent garrison in Djbouti on the horn of Africa.

Entrance into the Legion is for an initial 5-year contract. After successful completion you may be granted French citizenship and a new identity. Twenty years service like in all armies comes with a pension. French nationals are prohibited from joining, although many do pretending to be French Canadians, Belgians and or Swiss.

The officers on the other hand are, aside from a few CFRs, regular French professionals often graduates of St. Cyr the military college. For many a couple of years posting to a Legion unit early in their career is a good step towards high rank later on.

Contrary to popular belief major criminals such as murderers are not admitted. There is a very comprehensive screening process in place. Serious wanted criminals are turned over to the French police and possibly then to Interpol. Minor crimes such as debts or abandonment are ignored. Once in ex wives and creditors will never find you. The Legion will not acknowledge you are there.

Discipline is harsh, perhaps brutal in comparison to most Western European Armies and the CF. There is no SHARP here. Blind obedience to orders is quickly stressed. There are reasons for this.

The recruits range from former soldiers with years of experience to those with no military background at all. Add to this people from various backgrounds, cultures and languages. Everyone starts at the same level. French language training is part of recruit and basic training for those who need it. To be honest it’s a CSMs nightmare come true, but they have to be quickly trained and melded into a cohesive force.

This harsh discipline though is not universal. Like in any army it varies from unit to unit. Discipline and training in 2REP is probably harder than a platoon of floor sweepers at Aubagne, the Legion HQ in southern France. And yes such people exist if your too stupid to be in a fighting unit they find some menial task for you do.

Initially in the early 19th Century battalions were formed of each different language/national group. There were German, Spanish and Italian battalions. Now everyone is mixed together.

Depending on the political/economic circumstances of the world, the make up of the Legion varies. In 1919 it was full of Russians fleeing the Communist and Germans and Austrians from the defeated armies. In 1945 Germans again made up the bulk of recruits, many who would fight and die in Indo China. Now it’s probably full of people from the former Yugoslavia and former Sviet Bloc countries. In between here have been Brits (always a large contingent) Americans, Vietnamese, South Americans, Africans etc etc.

The rep as inhuman killing machines is exaggerated. Yes there have atrocities committed in war, Algeria offering some of the best examples, but that can apply to many armies especially in dirty little guerrilla wars. Legionnaires are more apt to tear apart a bar when drunk but that can apply to a lot of soldiers.

There have been former Legionnaires who have become mercenaries. The most famous or infamous was Bob Denard of Congo and Commoros Islands fame. The most famous mercenary of the 1960-1970s though, Col. Mike Hoare was ex British Army.

Someone mentioned Christian Jennings book A Mouthful of Rocks, which isn’t a bad account of the modern Legion. Jennings though was/is a cry baby, alchoholic, spoiled little rich kid with no self discipline who got tossed from the British TA. He joined the Legion on a lark or out of desperation and deserted twice, being caught the first time. Therefore read it with a grain of salt.

Hey still want to try it here’s the address.

Centre de Recruitment de La Legion Etranger
22 Rue d’Ostende
Qtr Lecombe Strasbourg Alsace France

Mention my screen name. That should be good for about an hours worth of pelotte.
 
Ha ha ha... Travis, which wargame did you get your info from ??? LOL...
Although I have never served in the FFL, I did train with them, including the jungle warfare course run by 3e REI in French Guyana. I also did the "Commando Entrainement" with the CNEC / 1er Regt de Choc, while a coy from 2e REP was going through. I didn‘t meet Superman out there...
Most of the info Danjanou provided is correct, except that contrary to popular belief, about 1/4 of the FFL are French nationals, who are accepted in. Most French who go in use an alias because they wish to "disappear" for a while...
Mostly, the average Légionnaire is just that: average. They have their fair share of plugs. From what I saw, Légionnaires are under-paid, under-equipped and treated like shyt... if this is what you wish for yourself for the next 5 years of your life, go ahead... but don‘t mention my screen name, you might be sent to 3e REI... ;)
 
Jungle I don‘t know a year in 3REIe might do him good. He could look at as the ultimate realistic video game.

But if he really wants to, here‘s their pay scales and joining info:

http://www.ambafrance-us.org/fr/aaz/legion/index.asp
 
Oh my gawd! This thread is an excellent example of people taking propaganda, holleywood, and word of mouth at face value. Frankly, with the exception of Danjanou and Jungle (thank you for posting!), the rest of you haven‘t a bloody clue what you are talking about. I‘m not an expert on the Legion, but at least I endeavor to research something before I attempt to speak authoritatively about it.

There are several books about the FFL. Here are two that I found to be decent.
  • Inside the Foreign Legion by John Parker (Good but more of a general overview of the Legion as a whole, including its history.)
  • Legionnaire by Simon Murray (I really enjoyed this one. It‘s basically a journal of Murray‘s five years in the Legion.)
 
Danjou,my father joined the Legion 49/50 and spent 2.5 yrs in,was Para qual,machine gunner and murderd civies in Algeria(His own word‘s).He got a bounty for a body count!!!!!

How I know this is just before he died he talked with me and my brother and broke down over what he did in the name of France
(clearing his contiance?)

He deserted in Port Said from a Troop ship on it‘s way to Indo China as he told us he had a PREMINISION and left,6 month‘s later or so his unit was wiped out at Dehn Behn Phoo.

As to to day‘s Legion,I work with an Ex reservist who joined the legion and served 6yrs. and bought his way out and from what he‘s told me you are cannon fodder!It‘s a very hard life as a Legionair!
As a sprog beating‘s are commen,,theft is rammpemt,also when you join all your I.D. is confcigated!!!!He kept his some of his I.D. hidden!!


The Legion is the over seas arm of the French due the the fact under the French Constitution it‘s Illeagal to send "French Troop‘s" Over seas ergo the Legion.

This is just one Canadian of 3 I can speak of.
To clear think‘s up I‘ll ask him to come on site to make you all aware of the Legion,yes they are tough and have up to date training and weapon‘s but for the first 3yrs you are ****e and "MUST LEARN FRENCH"
 
The Legion is the over seas arm of the French due the the fact under the French Constitution it‘s Illeagal to send "French Troop‘s" Over seas ergo the Legion.
This information is no longer valid. The French constitution prevented conscripts from serving outside French territory, but France ended national service in 2001. The Armed Forces of France are now entirely composed of volunteers.
 
Everybody i thank you for your replies.

Earl if you could get your friend to come to this post and post some experiences and what he thinks i myself and everybody else reading this post would appreciate it greatly.

I am still interested in joining it. Someone mentioned something about the pay rate, i don‘t care about the pay rate. I could be doing it for free. I just want to do this for myself, it was my lifes dream to be in an elite group / force all my life and this would be something such as that. I know this group is harsh very hard to get through and breaks you down into pulp and then rebuilds you into a machine. I am thinking now that i know how the mental part will be but i am probably wrong and its way more than i expect. But i need that. So if Earl you could get 1 of your friends to answer some questions and give thoughts would be awesome.

Thanks,
 
Earl, I think what you‘ve said reinforces what Jungle and I have posted. As Jungle said there was once a law prohibiting sending French conscripts overseas which is why they created a seperate colonial army of which the Legion was a part.

They are tough units yes, and perhaps have suffered from a certain mystique, which to be honest Legionnaires and the Legion itself help to perpetuate. They also have fairly modern equipment, actually the same equipment (small arms vehicles etc.) as the rest of the French Army.

Re attrocities in Algeria. The war there really didn‘t start heating up until the late 1950‘s early 1960‘s. By then attrocities were being commited on a regular basis by both sides. many of the colonial regiments including the Legion and Les Paras having already served in Vietnam and been sold out there were shall we say less than gentle in the performance of their duties.

Two good books(in English) that cover the area are Saint George and the Dragon (also called the War in Algeria) which is the autobiography of a young French conscript who served in the Colonial Parachute Regiment in Algeria and at Suez, and The Eagle and the Snake a novel about the Legion part of which is set in Indo China and Algeria.

OH BTW as the link I posted shows, I was bit off in my address for the recruiting centre in Strasbourg. Hey I was doing it from memory and I figure not too bad for 23 years ago eh.
 
Just wanted to second Danjanou‘s recommendation for The Eagle and the Snake. I‘ve read it and thoroughly enjoyed it!
 
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