French Foreign Legion

>>32021051
I'm gonna give you some advice. Unless you have already served in an army then don't bother, because odds are you will desert.

>>32021121
Not OP but what causes that?

I'd Assume westerners have an idea of glamour and excitement and it turns into just bs garrison life.

>>32021121
>>32021154
I'd like to know as well. Never have I thought of deserting as an option if I even did get accepted into the FFL. What causes someone to desert the FFL versus other militaries?

>>32021154
Because the entire point of the legion is to send you to do France's dirty work for shit pay, in shit conditions. It's not just westerners, it's just brutal to get through training at Aubagne. They used to almost starve recruits, the whole point of it was to make you a hardass who shut up and listened to orders no matter what. Most washouts happen during training, if you're past that then odds are you'll stay in. I've looked into it myself and at some point in time I probably will earn a white kepi, but it really can be tough. This is all on top of the fact that the type of people who may be attracted to the legion are fuck-ups, rejects, dumbasses etc. In other words, people who won't want to follow orders.

>>32021277
So if one was in the muhreens, didn't go downrange, never did anything "fun". Then joining the legion isn't out of the question.

Just bear in mind training is excruciating.

>>32021277
That sounds exactly what I'm looking for. I personally wanted to find the most difficult branch to join regardless of country with the harshest conditions just to see how far I can push myself. Thanks for the info.

And that white kepi march sounds brutal. Have you seen how big their packs are when they do that march? Can't imagine how tough it will be when you're already exhausted from the other training you'll endure beforehand.

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>>32021239
>>32021154
Your first 5 years are spent exclusively on corsica(aside from you know, fighting) you are not a human being for this time. Not much freedom even after that either.
The irony is that corsica is fucking beautiful.
You have two body types in the FFL
Skinny and can run fast
Big and can run fast
Everyone runs, all the fucking time.
Craziest, hardest motherfuckers I've ever met.
>pic related

>>32021359
Go on https://cervens.net/ its the unofficial FFL forum, look up the stories of others, look up the training regimen. Also, go on the FFL's subreddit there are some active duty poster's there I think. Point is, this isn't like joining the US's army(yeah yeah muhreens are different) and you really need a good idea of what you're getting into. Once you sign on the dotted line, you're France's bitch. Think long and hard as to whether you really want to join. Again, read books, listen to other's stories, look up current conditions, educate yourself about the legion. Make no mistake, it's a historic unit with many traditions and the French have a lot of respect for you joining it, but it's not for the faint of heart.

>>32021402
so no sex? Or does Corsica have sloots?

>>32021437
Legion doesn't give a fuck who you fuck unless you cause problems, they're renowned for being heavy ass drinkers too.

>>32021051
You go into places where France wouldn't send it's regular units because odds are you're either going to die horrifically or you're about to do some really, really dark shit to whomever you're being pointed towards.

The training is pretty fucking brutal from what I've heard as well, but the upside is that it's one of the "easier" ways to become a french citizen- either after 5(?) years of service, or if you get wounded in combat you're then considered "French by blood spilled", because you've bled for the country they'll consider you one of their own.

It's not a glamorous job but I'd be lying to you if it didn't sound interesting as fuck. It's my plan B for if everything else in my life shits the bed. I'm prior service so I could probably hack it.

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>>32021437
Corsica has some shit on it, but when i say confined to corsica i mean specifically the base. Either you're in duty uniform, PT clothes, or parade garb.
5.
Fucking.
Years.
Everyone i met has been awol atleast once or twice, and taken their licls coming back
Did i mention the running?
>pic related also

I attempted to join in 1968 and, along with many others, was rejected. We were all held in a large room for three days. No physical tests or interviews, just laying around and talking to each other. They sent everyone (out of about 60, two remained and both were former French conscripts) out the gate and gave us a few francs to get a bus. Perhaps they had a bad week, but it was around the time of a lot of social and political unrest in France so maybe they weren't in the mood. Me and an Italian lad ended up getting to Spain and joining theirs, which was a different world entirely.

From what I've gathered since, they're a switched on, capable and ready bunch. I've worked with a lot of Legionnaires since then and I've enjoyed their company. Their training and treatment is much better than it was, and that's from the horses mouth. Mitterand cleaned it up in the 1980s and removed a lot of the dross.

>>32021865
How old are you?

>>32022276
72.

>>32022299
what the fuck are you doing here, how did you even know this place exists.

>>32022340
the internet doesn't have an age limit, sadly

>>32022367
it's fine by me just surprising
>>32022299
Did you join some military after all ?

>>32022340
Years ago I used messageboards to talk about current affairs, military history and things like that. Since I started my own business I attempted to keep up on technology (and largely succeeded) and spent large amounts of time on the internet.

One of my grandsons used to post here. He showed me a thread years back and I visited from time to time. I enjoy the relative anonymity and the lack of moderation. It also takes itself a lot less seriously than most forums.

>>32022383
Prior to that I had been in the British Army and had an eventful, if short, career there. I wound up in Madrid after getting to Barcelona and joined the Spanish Foreign Legion, which was a mistake. After leaving I bummed around Africa and Europe for a bit, went back to the UK, joined the TA (as it was then known) and enjoyed life. Since then I've done a lot of consultancy and private security related work, which has been fascinating.

>>32022383
In his post he said he went to Spain and joined theirs.

He's an old man, gonna make him type twice because you can't read?

>>32021865
Novio de la muerte?

>>32022299
Well I'm sure glad you're here. Assuming you are not a lying 14 year old faggot.

>>32022458
I've seen him post here before. Pretty sure he's legit.

>>32021865
>>32022299
>>32022367
So, what was the Spanish Foreign Legion like?

genuinely interested.

>>32022472
They were incompetent at best. There was a lot of religious imagery, big pictures of Jesus and even the cigarette rations had him on. Some had Mary on the back. I am fairly sure they were still executing people at that time (Franco was firmly in charge), though I never saw that happen. The execution pits were dug behind the Officer's Mess. We weren't paid most weeks, and when we were most of it was stolen.

I'd describe the training as lots of running about in the sun and rolling around on the floor. This lasted for a little over a month, before we ended up in the Spanish Sahara for more sun and rolling around. We wandered around the last bit of the Spanish Empire and got strafed by some Spanish Air Force jets. All of our equipment was man packed, right up to the heavy mortars, and marched across the desert in whatever formation the NCO felt suitable at the time. It rattled and clanged all over the place, components dropping out as we went.

It was a rabble. I was the only Brit they had had since the late 40s, for some reason they treated me better than most of the others (who were mostly Spanish and Spanish speaking). Apparently another former British soldier joined a few months after me but deserted on leave.

>>32022559
That sounds as spanish as it gets.

>>32021051
Is this the vietnamese kid from Supernatural which was prophet and then got killed by Gadreel?

Einer Deutschen Mutter Sohn
Ging zur Fremdenlegion
Französisch lernt er nie verstehn
Aber Arschficken und Zigaretten drehen

OP, learn this poem by heart and surprise your NCO's with it at a fitting occasion.

>>32022391
Assuming you're telling the truth, I got mad respect for you grandpa-senpai.

>>32022299
Full house roll, Gramps. You gotta make a thread with tales.

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>>32023399

>>32022299
Hello Grandpa, what was it like when you could buy a soda for a nickel and a loaf of bread for a quarter?