guys going through a boot camp kinda thing for the french foriegn ligion. there sgt. is an american that  used to be in the army. kinda interesting i guess. just thought some of yall might want to watch it.

Yep watched it, pretty interesting

Yeah, I watched it too and also found it quite interesting. Couple of guys were pretty fast on wanting to bail out of there. I think the first guy didn't last 24hrs.

From what I can tell, joining the Legion is the closest thing to going to Mars you can experience here on Earth.  I think their exeedingly harsh admission and training methods are mainly designed to weed out the flakes, weirdos, and misfits who'd even consider joining the Legion. They throw anyone out the door for the smallest infraction and deal them violence and bullshit in degrees only the truly certifiable or the truly desperate would tolerate.

why would anyone want to be associated with the french military given it's less than stellar reputation?

I guess I never really understood the whole french foreign legion thing......

All that trouble, having to learn to speak french, treated like a degenerate, etc., all to become cannon fodder for a country that won't fight for itself.

The Leigon is a world apart from the Fench Army. Different organizational structure, rank structure etc.

Thier combat record is replete with gallantry and honor and thier traditions are deep rooted. They take care of thier own and once a Leigonaire, you will always be viewed as a Leigonaire.

Those are some hardcore, tough, ass-stomping motherfuckers. Fron the VERY limited contact I have had with them they are use in operations that the French government doesn't necessarily want to use French troops for, hence the experience level of the Cadre and Leigonaires.

Don't make the mistake of selling them short due to their French affilliations.

Think what you want, though.

The legion is a unit of hardcore, bad asses. The regular french military may lay down but the legion........... just google them and read some of their history

Quoted: All that trouble, having to learn to speak french, treated like a degenerate, etc., all to become cannon fodder for a country that won't fight for itself.

I agree.

The Legion 'used' to be a place where criminals and social degenerates could start a new life. Supposedly, france now does a background check on recruits. Still, the sadistic abuse remains in their training. Also, it shouldn't be forgotten that france uses these men for operations and missions which are too risky or 'suicidal for regular french troops. Basically, the history of the Legion is filled with many gallant but futile "last stand" type battles. They, the Legion, stand together but the country for which they fight does not stand by them in the end.

Why the FUCK any normal man would join this unit is beyond me. By normal I mean someone who wasn't a criminal, insane, etc.

Quoted: The Leigon is a world apart from the Fench Army. Different organizational structure, rank structure etc. Thier combat record is replete with gallantry and honor and thier traditions are deep rooted. They take care of thier own and once a Leigonaire, you will always be viewed as a Leigonaire. Those are some hardcore, tough, ass-stomping motherfuckers. Fron the VERY limited contact I have had with them they are use in operations that the French government doesn't necessarily want to use French troops for, hence the experience level of the Cadre and Leigonaires. Don't make the mistake of selling them short due to their French affilliations. Think what you want, though.

I'm with you they are a bunch of hardcore nail eaters and fire shiters.  I ran across an article in school writen by a Army Ranger that went through the Legions Jungle warfair school. I wish I can remeber where I saw it, but from what I can remeber he said it was a really tough course.  And in some degrees tougher than some of the courses that he went through.

They have an obstical course that goes through the jungle.  It's not manicured like they do the courses for our military.  The only time they do any work to the course is to fix the obsticales thats it.  The legionares run it with in 45 minutes to an hour or so.  Every visiting military that runs the course take longer than an hour.  There is a story of a USMC unit that took 7 hours to run the course.

We (US Military) all talk about leave no man behind. AN dwe do a good job of it too.  These guys take it a farther not only will they not leave you behind they will not surrender.

Like other proffesional they fight for the man next to them not for France.  The ligon fights for France.  Some of you forget these guys ARE mercs. pure and simple.

Do some reading these are true bad asses.  The respect that they've earned from other Military Organnization is well earned.

They just work by diffrent rules and have diffrent traditions.  SOme of the stuff they doe is harsh and may seam cruel but when was the last time you read about a war that was all nice warm and fuzzy.


.02

Even The Legion hates France! LOL


I must admit that at one point in my military career, I considered ETS'ing and joing the FFL.  I wasn't feeling tested enough and the seemingly endless "meals on wheels" missions that a previous administration seemed determined on making our military into a fast food service than a fighting force was effecting my moral.  What really got me to decide against the FFl was the long intial enlistment.  That was enough to snap me out of it, LOL.

i'm watching right now...  it looks like there's going to be a soap box party

Being in the Legion is more like joining the Hells Angels than joining an Army.

Show was o.k., watched the first two episodes and got bored as it was more like reality t.v. than military training and I'm sure not 1/10th as harsh as what happens to real legionares. Plus no shooting or blowing stuff up. National Geographic channel had a show some years back on the training legionares endure and it was about ten times better than this one.

The French Foreign Legion should defect to the USMC. They would save themselves from the embarassment of being attached to France.

The recruits in the show are not in the Foreign Legion, but are undergoing similar training given by ex Legionaires.  It's sort of a "who can hack it in the Legion" w/o actually signing up.  

Quoted: why would anyone want to be associated with the french military given it's less than stellar reputation? I guess I never really understood the whole french foreign legion thing......

People join for all sorts of different reasons.  Many come from effed-up countries with nothing going for them, so a paying job in a western military is actually a pretty attractive proposition and French citizenship after 5 years of of service only sweetens the deal.  Some are military types who dont want a civilian type life, but their home country's armed services aren't likely to ever see action (scandinavian countries, Japanese, etc). Some are drawn because of the Legion's legend and mystique, others have just fucked up their lives so badly they just want to escape into anonymimity and start over again, including military pros who screwed up their regular careers/got thrown out and want to start over in the Legion, which may accept them. Some are just crazy weirdos.  

I think anyone joining it because they want to be in an elite unit is probably going to be disappointed, unless they go into the parachute regiment or are in long enough to qualify for their para commando and their SEAL-type unit.  The Legion is really long on discipline, tradition and exactness in their garrison life that sets them apart from the regular French army, but pretty short on actual combat training and capability that's a cut above any other infantry unit you'd find, and really short when it comes to high-tech gear and networked capability like the US military has.

Wasn't the movie "Savior" about two guys who join the FFL? Dennis Quaid is sent to Serbia or something?

Quoted: Some of you forget these guys ARE mercs. pure and simple.

These guys aren't mercenaries any more than our soldiers are mercenaries.  

The legion is a part of the French Military (albeit with different traditions).  In many ways they perform a similar function to the USMC.

Quoted: Quoted: Some of you forget these guys ARE mercs. pure and simple. These guys aren't mercenaries any more than our soldiers are mercenaries.   The legion is a part of the French Military (albeit with different traditions).  In many ways they perform a similar function to the USMC.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary

Each can read and decide. I think if the FFL are not Merc's, then they are about a hair away from being so. Same with Blackwater, Gurkhas, etc.

Not suprisingly, the Legion has actually fought against France on two occasions.  Once, in WWII when they were infiltrated and saturated with Germans, they fought on the side of the Germans (technically under the pupet French govt.) in north Africa.  During this clash, the Legion actually fought itself in some battles.  Second, when DeGaul decided to abandon French Algeria (which was the home of much of the Legion), some French generals tried a coup and most of the Legion in Algeria were ready to fight France to save their way of life.  

No one can dispute that the Legion has a colorful and fascinating history.  If you are interested pick up a copy of Douglas Porch's book "The French Foreign Legion".  

The best unit in the French Military!

Because none of them are actual frenchmen

Sorry to butt back in but  the Leigon is pretty well versed with combat experience.  On-going operations that dont make headlines are in full swing in many of Frances former coloniesand all over the world.

The Leigon is comprised largely of foriegners but the bulk of the Leigon is composed of Frenchmen. I think that you would find an ass-load of Germans and Brits as well. You learn the language through negative reinforcement, ie, getting slapped in the face for not responding to a command in a timely manner. Thier discipline is legendary and the no surrender aspect goes back to times when it was better to die in such a fashion that be a prisoner of war.

I think that the long- timers in the Leigon are men that crave belonging and have devoted thier life to being a soldier in every aspect. When thier service is through, they are afforded the option of citizenship and a quiet life in a home specifically for old Leigonaires.

The fact that they are practically reviled by the country that they are supposed to defend makes thier bond even stronger, hence thier motto: LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA, the Leigon is my Fatherland.

Nothing but respect should be accorded to these Leigonaires and the Leigon, in my opinion.

Again, my 0.02