Foreign Legion

[Brian-]

Nice one Oz, that forum's the nuts!

[jsharps1965]

hey mulligan, might be able to help. I spent 5,1/2 yrs in the legion, 4 of those in 2REP in heavy weapons, milan anti tank, did 2 operational tours with 2REP in tchad, north africa helping out the FANT, front armee national tchadienne, my last year was spent in tahiti with 5RE as a combat engineer where the french use to set off their big charges in a lagoon drilled down to a depth of a few hundred metres about 6-10klicks from where we stood on platforms about 5metres high incase of a leak in the plug that filled the whole with the charge in, there were a few hairy moments during my time in the legion. It was a good run up for me before I joined the corps. I have the french brevet para militaire, the french stage commando (Mt louis) the stage milan, stage tireur de elite and a few other bits and bobs from the legion. Today I would say if you can join the marines, paras go for it as in the future there is a chance for SF, as with most regiments but the 2 you want are the marines or pars, the reason being after the berlin wall came down there was a big influx of eastern europeans joined for the scran, also there has always been a large percentage of french who cannot join normally so change their id to say plonker from belgium or bear fiddler from canada therefore allowing them to enlist in the legion as by french law no french citizen can join. A french officer can enlist if he arrives at a certain standard out of his training from st cyr military academy. As I was saying unless you went to 2REP and joined section CRAP, its true, though I think they have changed their name now its not worth it. I learned good skills on the french commando course, there was a hell alot of range work many rounds fired you were at one with your weapon the cameraderie was good then but not so now so I hear the point is I learnd good basic skills in the legion but I fine tuned them in the MARINES!!

[jsharps1965]

The legion has alot of history behind it, alot of defeats from mexico, morroco, vietnam, 2nd world war when they fought each other and also alot of victories. The thing is, it was the spirit of the men that joined, although it was a way out for many criminals, that kind of got phased out after algeria, yes they still accepted people with records but not serious records.Whilst I was waiting in aubagne for acceptance in 1985, one of the guys I became freindly with got pulled out of our dorm and thats the last we saw of him. He had been on the run from morroco and decided to hide in the legion but they do thorough checks on people now and it came to light that he had actually killed a police officer in some kind of drug op, and that was that.Remember after the war alot of German SS troopers escaped to the legion, they were a big influence on legion life and training for quite some time after, vietnam which was indo china then, (the book called 'devils gaurd' is about their operations in indo china just after the war so if you get a chance read it there is alot of tactics the germans put to good use over there cause the french generals were struggling,), algeria during their fight for independahce and a few other little wars, now they have all died off now, though I did get to meet a couple of the old warriors, cause thats what they were, I personnaly think maybe france wants rid of the legion now, its an embarassment to them so they let the standards slip so fewr and fewer join, then at the end whats the point to keep the legion if we have units with native french, it will be a sad day when it happens but the spanish got rid of their legion not that long ago for the same reason. Don't forget that there is a big language barrier at the startof your life in the legion, but that aside I worked along side Israely defence force personnel, SDF personnel, Rlf(now disbanded)rodesian light inf, former brits who went through NI in the 60' and 70' also ex vietnam vets US mercs from angola etc Aden vets so there was a hell of alot of experience to learn from and they had pride in what they did. I learnt more off these men than I did from the french military doctrine.oh so many memories.good and bad and s**t but

[Oz]

Sharps,

Thanks for those excellent posts. Its always good to hear about an organization from some one thats been there and bought the t-shirt.

Cheers

[morky]

thanks for the interesting information on the legion mate, its always fascinating to hear from people like you who have different experiences. ive never given any serious thought to it myself, although i bet most of us toy with the idea in our daydreams. im reading a book called 'the naked soldier' written by a legionaire now and looking forward to any experiences you feel like sharing.



do you think the legion will be sent to lebanon under the un, or are they not best suited for peace keeping roles?

[mfat_man]

jsharps1965

A+ Mate top of the class.

This is just the sport of input we are looking for on the site Keeping thinking MFAT and passing on training tips and you're weclome here anytime....

[Oz]

Mfat man,

When i read that post by Sharps thats just what i was thinking. Its great to see that the forums are not just about Uk armed forces but a diverse range of topics to do with other combat forces around the world and to back it up with real experiences. Thats what its all about. Long live MFAT { sounds of cheering crowds }

Oz

[morky]

does anyone have any information on rates of pay?

any websites ive looked at have still had francs as the currency and so are obviously quite out of date. i hope. ive heard stories about people completing their contract and then being hit with a huge tax bill leaving them actually owing money to the legion and having to stay to pay it off. obviously there is a lot of rubbish written about the legion so hopefully somebody can put us straight on that one.

ive just finished a book as well, where the author states legionaires pay is doubled when they are posted overseas. if youre out in the trees in guyana for three years on double bubble with your wages guaranteed and safe, the legion suddenly starts to look a lot more attractive . . .

[cruicent]

Theres a really good forum somewhere on the net to do with the legion. mostly ex- and wannabee legionnaires. Remember being interested in the legion doing a lot of reading through the forum a while back, really interesting but hell no!
EDIT: just looked at the above link - think thats the one.

[mfat_man]

Mfat man,

When i read that post by Sharps thats just what i was thinking. Its great to see that the forums are not just about Uk armed forces but a diverse range of topics to do with other combat forces around the world and to back it up with real experiences. Thats what its all about. Long live MFAT { sounds of cheering crowds }

Oz

Oz

That's what we are here for We used to have the guestbook before so the forums are soooooooooooo much better than some old STAB to run the place arf arf!

The forums have picked up again as we moved towards the end of the summer and I am hoping to have an EXCLUSIVE for you on someone you would find very very interesting... can't say yet but keep your eyes peeled!

[morky]

Mfat man,

When i read that post by Sharps thats just what i was thinking. Its great to see that the forums are not just about Uk armed forces but a diverse range of topics to do with other combat forces around the world and to back it up with real experiences. Thats what its all about. Long live MFAT { sounds of cheering crowds }

Oz

Oz

That's what we are here for We used to have the guestbook before so the forums are soooooooooooo much better than some old STAB to run the place arf arf!

The forums have picked up again as we moved towards the end of the summer and I am hoping to have an EXCLUSIVE for you on someone you would find very very interesting... can't say yet but keep your eyes peeled!

Osama Bin Laden?

[mfat_man]

Mfat man,

When i read that post by Sharps thats just what i was thinking. Its great to see that the forums are not just about Uk armed forces but a diverse range of topics to do with other combat forces around the world and to back it up with real experiences. Thats what its all about. Long live MFAT { sounds of cheering crowds }

Oz

Oz

That's what we are here for We used to have the guestbook before so the forums are soooooooooooo much better than some old STAB to run the place arf arf!

The forums have picked up again as we moved towards the end of the summer and I am hoping to have an EXCLUSIVE for you on someone you would find very very interesting... can't say yet but keep your eyes peeled!

Osama Bin Laden?

Wrong!

And it's not Elvis either Leave it with me guys....

[digitalfreefall]

does anyone have any information on rates of pay?

http://www.legion-recrute.com/en/salaires.php


Recommended books on the Legion:

Legionnaire: The Real Life Story of an Englishman in the French Foreign Legion - Simon Murray

The Making of Legionnaire: My Life in the French Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment - Bill Parris

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/3348 ... oduct.html

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/6488 ... oduct.html

[digitalfreefall]

Legionnaires Code of Honour:

http://www.legion-recrute.com/en/code.php