French Foreign Legion

[dead-cat]

check the net. there are many sites devoted to that topic, even a romanian messageboard if i remember well. what i know i read online. i once talked to a legion guy, but he confirmed pretty much what i suspected (no net at that time to check, it's a bit long ago).

[mg 42]

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QUOTE Wow, I had no idea the french legion was still operational to the extent it is. How does it rate against special troops like the SAS, Delta Force, Spetsnatz, Israeli special forces, etc...?   it's not the same thing and shouldn't be rated as such. some describe it as "elite" unit. i doubt they benefit from the latest and best technology, given that none of its regular ranks are french nationals during the first 5 years. from what i read, it's a connon fodder unit. warcrime suspect also.

they are not considered to be special troops. More likely they can be compaired with the US Marines : army units used for special ( more dangerous ) missions. And since they are not french nationals, nobody complains if they get killed. But they are tougher then regular army.
But they enjoy some privileges, too : french citizenship after your contract is over, a job and even a home for old veterans.

[dead-cat]

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a job and even a home for old veterans

a job in the legion for another contract if you still enjoy being a target. other than that the net is full of accounts of ex-legionaires who can't find employment in the real world. after all their skills and qualifications (technical if any) are strictly army related.

the advantages and priviledges are: french citizenship (if you care) and a chance to start a new life (if you screwed up your pervious one). it's mainly for ppl who don't have anything to lose (anymore). as you can see, the advantages are of the type: the least you can get.

i'm not sure how long you have to stay in order to qualify for a pension. anyone able to shed some light on this?

[johnny_bi]

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the advantages and priviledges are: french citizenship (if you care) and a chance to start a new life (if you screwed up your pervious one). it's mainly for ppl who don't have anything to lose (anymore). as you can see, the advantages are of the type: the least you can get.

I met some guys ... they got the French citizenship... They did care because, so , they got the possibility to go quick to Canada... Many of them headed to Canada where they have a pretty large community and they started a business... They help themselves. They have a kind of brotherhood. It is not so black and white.
But one thing is for sure... they are pretty strange and sometimes they act pretty strange.

[Chandernagore]

The crushing majority is formed up by guys with problems, sometimes serious criminal problems. The instruction break them in a first phase and then they start working you into a member of an elite corps. It's not the latest most modern material which counts, it's the morale. Even the Marines have deep respect for their fighting abilities. The Legion is in category of it's own. You cant' compare them to anything. A weird, scarry outfit.

I encountered some several times in pubs, cafeterias. You don't want to mess up with them for fun, that I can tell :?

[dead-cat]

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It's not the latest most modern material which counts, it's the morale.

if i shoot at you with particle cannons, your morale will be irrelevant.
if somebody throws 203mm shells at you for 3 hours you'll be shell-shocked. it's that easy. morale doesn't prevail without top-of-the-notch weaponry and 1st Ypres(Langemarck) is the proof.

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I encountered some several times in pubs, cafeterias.

all you need is a good lawyer and they go to Papillion Island. and just beacuse of the legion background, no matter who started the fight. in Germany that is.

[dragos]

The requirements for recruiting may be not too high, but the training is one of toughest in the world. You can die during training, because no safety devices are used. The paratroopers regiment, the elite unit of legion, is comparable in tactics with other famous elite forces.

[Chandernagore]

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if i shoot at you with particle cannons, your morale will be irrelevant. if somebody throws 203mm shells at you for 3 hours you'll be shell-shocked. it's that easy. morale doesn't prevail without top-of-the-notch weaponry and 1st Ypres(Langemarck) is the proof.

Top notch weaponry at 1st Ypres ? Particle cannons perhaps ? We're no longer in the 1st world war, probably the only one in history where the superiority of defensive weaponry was overwhelming at times.

The wars that are being fought today are largely different. The most revered weapon in the Marines arsenal is their rifle. Ask yourself why. Unlimited use of firepower in undeclared wars like Vietnam will win you battles and make you loose the war. On the other hand a superior weapon is of little use if you run away and leave in your enemy's hands.
A superior weapon with the wrong doctrine will make you want to avoid real fight, close combat, anything that might trigger conditions not favorable to the optimal use of that weapon. Wherever the enemy will manage to force battle on you on his conditions the shit will likely hit the fan.

If you miss me with your unwieldy particule cannon and I don't loose my nerves, I might well lodge you a good old bullet in your head before you have a chance to fire twice. And then the rest of your platoon might withdraw because they learned to fire more than they learned to fight :roll: A perfect example would be the battle of Ap Bac in 62. Armored carriers, jets, helicopter gunships, napalm, artillery, all to no avail against a bunch of rifle armed guerillas with a single mortar & 20 rounds ammunition. The guerilla had something the attacker didn't have : guts. Somehow they where not shell-shocked at the deluge of firepower that fell on them. But the attacker was sure shocked when the enemy refused to break & run like it was supposed to do in the instruction book.

Unless the technological difference is really huge (which rarely happens), morale, "esprit de corps" is far more often a decisive factor than firepower. That hasn't changed.

[Chandernagore]

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all you need is a good lawyer and they go to Papillion Island. and just beacuse of the legion background, no matter who started the fight. in Germany that is.

And your point is ?

[dead-cat]

my point is that once out of the legion the legacy haunts you indefinetly.
if you ever pick a fight in germany (even if it wasn't your fault) and injured your adversary (only a bit) and they find out that you ever belonged to some martial arts club, it's 50:50 that you're going to be found guilty.

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We're no longer in the 1st world war, probably the only one in history where the superiority of defensive weaponry was overwhelming at times.

if you don't have acess to the latest weaponry and the other has it might be very well similar.

for the rest of your posts, we could argue endlessly over ifs. for what i read about the subject, the legion has been used by france to do the dirty work. not because the french regular army wouldn't be able to do it (i guess they have real elite units too), but because they wouldn't want the french army to ruin its reputation.

[mabadesc]

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they are not considered to be special troops. More likely they can be compaired with the US Marines : army units used for special ( more dangerous ) missions.

Hmmm...I think it falls in a gray category....
I pulled out my "Encyclopedia of the World's Special Forces" from the bookshelf and surprisingly, it's listed there (has a whole chapter, actually).
Apparently, the legion is fairly well integrated within the French Armed Forces.

Some relevant excerpts:

Foreign Legion Units:

1er Regiment Etrangere de Cavalerie (1 REC). Based at Orange, part of the French 6th light armoured division.
2eme Regiment Etrangere d'Infanterie (1REI). Based at Nimes.
3 REI - based at Kourou, French Guyana.
5 RE - based on French Pacific Islands - was in charge of France's nuclear testing on the Mururoa Atoll
6 REG (Genie) - based in Plain d'Albion
2 REP (parachutists) - based in Calvi, Corsica
13 Demi-brigade - based in Djibouti, Africa
DLEM - Detachment de Legion Etrangere a Mayotte - Indian Ocean island

"In 1988, the French Army was reduced in size because France wanted an all-professional army like that of the British. As part of these cutbacks, the Legion was reduced in size to 7500 men and withdrew from a number of overseas bases."

"Weapons used by the French Foreign Legion include the FAMAS assault rifle; M249 Minimi light machine gun; and HK MP5 submachine gun.

"Although the Foreign Legion is not part of France's special forces orbit, it has been used for special forces operations around the world on behalf of France. In 1991, the Foreign Letion fought in the Gulf War..."

[C-2]

A relative of mine,who died age 93 in 1992,after serving in ww1 inthe Austro -Hungarian Army ,went to the Legion and served in Algeria.After that he came back to Alba Iulia and enlisted to the Romanian army and had some action in ww2.
A pacient of mine served in the Legion and was severly woonded (his lower jaw was fractured) at the Kenian border.
He was treated at a hospital in Paris and reacived financial compensation (30000$).The job the French doctors did on his teaths was not so well done :?
He didn't look like a superman...