What does Jow Forums think of the French Foreign Legion?

Pretty good idea to have foreigners die for you in shitholes where you don't want to send your own.

>If you serve long enough you can retire to their vineyard
Never knew this. Sounds lovely.

Wonder why more countries besides Spain don't do something similar

I'm not sure either. Maybe because other countries already had plenty of minorities in their borders to use as cannon fodder.

Because it usually has a rich historical connection

Join the Foreign Legion, where you get to fight to the last man against impossible odds so Pierre has time to negotiate a complete surrender

again, a thread where americafaggots are talking about a subject they don't know

Have fun getting raped during training

Pls contribute instead of bully

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Precision : they do not use FAMAS anymore, now they have a HK416 like the rest of the French military.

Which was one of the most problematic part about shitty weaponry.

I tried to join in 2016 and made it to the final stage of selection but was not selected. I had been out of the USMC(did 2 pumps as a grunt to Helmand) for 4 years and hadn't really gone anywhere in life. I wanted another challenge while i was still young and capable. Particularly, i wanted to be assigned to the 3e rei in South America. The jungle is the true test of a man's mettle and I wanted the chance to test myself there.

I committed to it. I quit my job and did nothing but workout and study french for 6 months. By the time I left for France I was in even better shape than I ever was during my enlistment and I had a rudimentary ability to communicate in french. I got to Paris and got an airbnb for 3 nights to adjust to the timezone switch. I presented myself at Fort De Nogent and the guard at the gate seemed amused that I was American and told me how much he loved Trump(this was like 6 weeks before the election). It was actually fairly anti-climactic. At USMC Boot camp you arrive into a hailstorm of DIs mercilessly yelling at you and disorienting you, but the Legion was not that way at all. It was really calm and tame. They made us do a max set of pullups (I cranked out 21) and gave us clothes to change into. They write the number of pullups on the back of your hand, and it was sort of an initial metric that everyone had to measure themselves up against each other. There were only 2 other dudes there who did more pullups than me, an Algerian and a Brazilian.

From then on, the selection process as being similar to MEPS, except you have to live there for a month. You will go 3-4 days at a time without doing anything, just waiting on the next administrative task. A lot of guys quit during this time just out of sheer boredom. This is by design, as it weeds out the ones that aren't truly committed to it.

Just hit character limit, does anyone even care enough for me to continue?

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They are one of the only Western fighting forces that still forbids fags and women. They will have my respect as long as that remains true.

continue please

Continue man. What would they kick you out for? 21 pull ups is pretty damn good

Makes sense. Why join the FFL unless you were barred from the Canadian or American military for some reason? That’d make me suspicious as a recruiter.

I can only guess it was because he was American and desertion rates for anyone not from a hellhole are astronomical comparatively

How awful is life as a private in the FFL actually that so many desert?

If I join to I become a french?

You do about 10 days of admin stuff at De Nogent. You will likely get sick at this point, much like the recruit crud at bootcamp. It's pretty miserable and I didn't perform as well on the luc-leger(running beep test) as I should have. After those 10 days you get sent down south to Aubagne where the real selection process occurs. Here life is more regimented. The legionnaires will start treating you more strictly and expect you to act more orderly. Everything you do at Aubagne is being watched and evaluated so conduct yourself accordingly. You spend most of your time doing chores around the base, but every so often you will get pulled away for an interview

The interviews are given by a group of Legionairre NCOs and officers informally referred to as the "gestapo". They ask you a bunch of questions about your life and your background. These interviews last a while and they go pretty in depth with the questions, and they come back to them days later in future interviews, so I would advise against lying. Every few days they will line everyone up in formation and read off a list of names. Those whose names are not read are cut, and they are immediately returned to civi street with no further explanation. Finally the day came when they would announce the candidate selections. I easily outperformed almost everyone in the physical tests once I got over the illness, and I had documented combat experience as a grunt Marine, so at this point I was feeling very confident that i would be selected. My confidence was obviously misplaced, as my name was not read. Those of us who were cut were shepherded into a separate building where they returned our personal articles to us. They gave me a train ticket back to Paris and 900 Euros in cash to compensate me for the 29 days I had spent in selection.

I promptly took those Euros to Germany and spent a week binging on Romanian whores before flying back to the states and picking my life back up.

they didn't tell you why you were cut? that sucks. much respect for making the attempt though. It takes some balls to go for something like that.

FeelsBadMan

>What does Jow Forums think of the French Foreign Legion?
they're OK I guess but ISRAELI FOREIGN LEGION is much, much better!

Sorry dude, did you ever find another challenge?

Great story. Frogs are fucking gay and you sound like a good guy. Hope you found something worthwhile.

They dont discuss their selection process at all. They just read the list of names and that's it. No chance for an appeal or discussion.

Not really to be honest. Used the GI Bill to go to a trade school(aircraft mechanic) and I'm making ok money now but I'm not particularly satisfied still.

Full of Africans and Middle easterners now.

Don't bother.

Looks like you cropped out all the niggers

Much of that African demographic consists of white South Africans. Whites in South Africa have almost no military options in their own country these days and the FFL is their best chance at a military career. There are tons and tons of white south africans joining.

IDK i could understand it if you are a francophile, but are also a military guy. admitedly its not that big of an intersection but its there. I could understand it too if the Whole napoleonic shpeal is up your philosophical ally, and are at all into modern military history (AS in last 300 years "Modern")

>really tough

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The 3rd REI is no joke either. They do deployments deep into the Amazon jungle hunting illegal miners from Brazil.

Sorry to hear it, ever consider an alphqbet agency?

No but I'm considering applying to a defense contractor like General Dynamics or Sierra Nevada after I get a few more years experience. They offer deployment rotations that I think would be interesting(and make a ton of cash quickly).

Not many countries have foreign involvement like the French. They’re probably second to the US when it comes to killing people in far away lands

the smart ones do

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id take a guess and say it was your french that let you down. French has alot of bullshit rules and nuances to it. I read some where that kids growing up in france usually dont speak it correctly till about 6 years old.

Less likely could be some worry about PR with "muh marine vet killed by french military" getting whipped up by a bored american news team if you got killed but itd more likely bet on language skills.

Sorry for that user. I´m going to leave the militia of my country at the end of August, and I plan to enter the French foreign legion the following year, but in your experience, do you think it's worth it? I mean, I just want to be a bellicose bastard who knows and participates in armed conflicts. I love my country, but it´s armies are a corrupt shit in it´s bowels and disguised in order that civilians get wet and feel safe.
Spend 9 years being loyal to the wrong homeland and a paper army.

Other options that I think are:
The Spain legion
USMC or similar of TRUMPland
This shit Russia, I think it has something similar to a foreign legion ...
¿Proposals? I literally think that God has made me born for war, I just want that.

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Russia's foreign legion project failed since it was supposed to attract poorer Russian-speaking nationals from places like Tajikistan but it turns out that basic jobs paid more there than being an abused Russian legionnaire.

HIER, AMIS, C'ÉTAIT L'AVENTURE, LA GUERRE, LES ROUTES, LES COMBATS SANGLANTS NOUS AVONS ACQUIS UNE ÂME DURE AMIS, LA FRANCE NOUS ATTEND

Russians don't have any foreign legion, so as their recruit army(literally the youngs that were sent to the Army because they didn't make they way to the university) sucks, you spent a whole year doing shit.
But if we are talking about real Russian Army, the contract one, these guys are real nuts.
I think you can make a try, but the cost of the entry is high, and you should be really fucking nuts in order to get there.
eng.mil.ru/en/index.htm
here's the site on englando, and the russian site(recrut.mil.ru/career/soldiering.htm) tells us about entry(since i'm russian myself i can translate you this crap)
let's start with basics
1) you must know russian language
2) you must be in a good shape
3) no serious illnesses
now we should continue
who can try to join?
1) russian military
2) russian residents with highest education(literally graduated)
3) women
4) foreigns that are legally reside in russia, from 18 to 30 y.o
btw russia is a good country but it has so many problems, so i think you should try US
*corruption(real shit), kavkaz niggers and etc*
but russian people are the best people i've ever met in my life

The Russian Armed Forces accepts foreigners of any country to their ranks. Under a plan, posted on the ministry’s web site in 2010, foreigners without dual citizenship are able to sign up for five-year contracts – and are eligible for Russian citizenship after serving three years. According to the amended law, a citizen of any foreign country aged 18–30 with a good command of Russian and a clean record can sign an initial five-year contract to join the Army.

Great, thanks for your information anons, I'll check the websites and I think that will be a good option.

My brother-in-law (nice guy who did time for aggravated assault) was in it. Did one deployment in Mali but never saw any combat. He said that the legion was fine for people like him but that there were two many people (esp. Eastern Euros) who were just fuckups who couldn't do anything else. The Legion is run by "mafias" of people organized by their country of origin, and if you're in a unit with a very strong Eastern Euro mafia then you should expect lots of bullshit. Most of the stuff you do is busywork unless you're a radioman or engineer (basically guaranteed to be deployed). Also, leadership is very bad.

Americans have a bad reputation in the French Foreign Legion because they desert so often. The big thing you need to convince recruiters of is that you have nothing to go back to back home and that the legion is your only option. Conditions are bad in the Legion and Americans typically have comfortable options if things go wrong.

It is what it is. A second chance for thugs and hope/aimless men to find purpose in life or straighten things out.
Be prepared to be deployed in front of the spearhead of the regular army and get into really shitty situations without any public mentions if you make it out.
Be prepared for really hard and sometimes cruel training (reminder that those guys were almost completely manned by ex SS or Wehrmacht soldiers some decades ago) and absolutely no place for weakness or feelings in front of superiors. If you make it for the min. 5 years without being crippled, you'll be a genuine hardass and any security company or private contractor will hire you without a second thought.

Mostly bollocks

The French Foreign Legion used to get the pic of the best officer candidates in the French Army, but sadly that is no longer the case.

Btw if you want to read some really rough shit about the FFL download "In the Foreign Legion" by Erwin Rosen from gutenberg.org. He was in around 1905 and that book is really tough to read.

neat.
>"Take a front seat you soldier men
>you've done your hitch in Hell."

Shockingly white

way tougher than marines since they dont allow women

please continue!

what makes it tough to read? The story itself or the language?

can you give an example from the book?

This is one of the best military memoirs I've read, and I've read quite a few. It's the diary of an upper class Englishman who was in the 2 REP from 1959-1964. This was probably the most turbulent period in the history of the Legion. de Gaulle gave Algeria(the Legion's homeland that they had fought and died for 140 years) its independence in 1961 and the Legion was not happy. The REP staged a military coup and the author was just hours from performing an airdrop onto Paris to attempt to overthrow the government when the coup was called off. It's also got some great combat action in it, as the fighting in Algeria was very intense in 1959-60.

I highly recommend it.

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I also want to join the Russian military. I have intermediate Russian skills and I am physically fit but not nearly as fit in terms of physical strength and cardio as i'd like to be. I'm considering quitting my job and going to Estonia (EU citizen) to practice Russian and get fit for a few months, then sign up.

You need residency in Russia to apply

>dat pic
absolute truth

Spain literally has an foreign legion though

Look at Dyncorp and L3.
All you need is a couple years experience on King Airs before applying. They have a ton of C-12s they use for ISR in Africa and the ME that pay a lot of money.
If you want something more exciting, get rotorcraft experience, then apply for a Mi-17 crew chief for Arma Aviation.

What gun is that?

G3A3ZF

I still think it's a pretty cool concept. I'll admit that, when I still wanted to enlist in the US military, the Legion was my end goal. Though that was back when I was borderline suicidal. Plus, I really wanted a FAMAS. I'm still a francophile despite what the country has become.

My priorities changed significantly and I never joined the armed forces, but sometimes I still wonder how my life would have turned out if I made it all the way and became a Legionnaire. Maybe I would have settled down with a nice French wife in Brittany or Nice. Maybe I would have died in a Jungle somewhere.

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They think we're pussies, and rightly so. The Legion has always been about giving a home and purpose to the downtrodden of life, but given France's proximity to eastern Europe, they have a much better conception of what that actually means. They want the tough kids who grew up dirt poor, who know actual third world suffering. They know it costs a lot of money to even get to France from North America, so the people who come over are unlikely to be anything but soft, pampered, and mildly disillusioned. They want you to have an actual fire in you that's born of real suffering, not an idle curiosity of its essence.

From what I know, you have a better chance being an infantry veteran, but they're still going to err on the side of telling you to pack your shit and fuck off, if you even get through the gates at Aubagne.

They should be taking shitloads of niggers then lmao

Ive heard stories of American FFL recruits going awol and trying to find refuge at the American embassy. Then two FFL guys with batons beat the shit out of the fuckers and force them back in service.

Imagine how colonial-era Europeans thought that they should structure a force of criminal colonized natives. Sound like something you want to be a part of, playing the role of the colonized native?

It tends to if you're a petty thief or some minor criminal maybe up to drug running and such, and need to escape and start over. Or if you're... well, an actual colonized native, which is definitely still a thing. Or some combination thereof.

If you survive training, and really they don't care if you do all *that* much, you will get to see a lot of action, mostly because nobody cares if you survive all *that* much. You will get a very cool hat, and actual, non-meme FAMAS.

Should you survive something like twenty years of that, you'll be given a new identity (if you wish including picking a French name) and can retire from the military as a French citizen with full benefits.

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well hiding in a mac donald isnt a good idea
but honnestly i doubt it's a true story they get so many candidats every year they reject 5 candidats for one accepted i dont think they'd lose their time chasing them down

They don't chase them down but you better not stay in France, in case of random police control you'll be arrested.

No there are not.

>well hiding in a mac donald isnt a good idea

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>reading comprehension

Same exact experience, even the same year, just few months before. I enlisted during the April. Pretty much only difference is that I didn't managed to defeat some fucking flu I caught during the first day. I tried fighting it, made it all the way through the selection I even managed to got into Rouge (so one step further, just before they send you to the farm) and got my cammies, but then flu became bronchitis, which was helped by the fact they issued us summer clothing, and I was picked by a caporal chef and sent home. Did they gave you definitive decision? Or you can go back?
>I promptly took those Euros to Germany and spent a week binging on Romanian whores before flying back to the states and picking my life back up.
Kek, I did exactly the same thing, but just back home (Czech here). Legion did gave me pretty interesting month long experience and financed a threesome I always wanted to try.

You don't have to speak French, nor you are obviously forced to do for the pre-selection and selection. People speak in their own languages, you try to catch a word there and there, but it's usually English or Russian.

They don't, but your release papers usually imply the reason. Also if you can speak/understand Russian, you can usually get some info.

Not true at all. Full of Eastern Europeans and South Americans.

marines isnt half as tough as people make out, it's just specialised infantry

What the fuck? I've hard time believing this but I'm certain you're not lying either so something must be off here. Was there anything you said during your interviews that could be a reason why your name was not announced?

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Not him, but they can and sometimes do flunk you out without really anything tangible. Especially if you are from the western Europe/United States - just stating that you have good job possibilities and nice wage back home is a big no no. They are looking for people who won't defect, therefore people who have nothing to return to.

A good way to learn the French language. Unfortunately, you have to act like a lapdog for the French government, so ultimately very much not worth it.

>Middle easterners
Sure, they would gladly enlist some undocumented ackbar in the current situation, former jihadists are such precious recruits.
Besides,the FFL is not exactly muslim friendly and their traditions are catholic.

They do way more training than marines do

Yeah it is

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Wouldn't you get abused for being a foreigner?

3 REI looks comfy as fuck, but maybe I idealize the jungle scenery.

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Yes.

No. When you join you become a ghost and belong to the Legion. Only after 5 years of contract you can perhaps become a French citizen.

No. You can apply after three years, but you have to sign for the longer contract.

How awful is life in the FFL actually that so many desert or at least try?

Meme

Total fantasy. There's a burger in this unit whose tragic hard knocks backstory is "got a DUI lol". One kid in the back at roll call clearly can barely understand what's being said. Commander is just some bored spaghet.

youtube.com/watch?v=lK8T3IxQo4M

Is it really that awful that it leads to desertion?
I thought it simply was due to the rumour or view people have of the French Foreign Legion and the adventures you get to experience.

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The FFL seems like a good way to go if you want to get the shit knocked out of you by petty criminals and thugs from shitholes, for a country that isn't your own.

>ywn patrol in the desert with your FAMASfu
I failed my life