Each gold chevron, which are only used by ordinary legionnaires and noncommissioned officers, denotes five years with the French Foreign Legion. “They make sure there are no problems with adultery, jealousy and/or divorce,” Edward said. However, there are some distinctions that make the Legion’s ranking system unique.
The French army’s current plans call for the Legion’s combat regiments to have more than 9,000 troops by the end of 2018, he said. Also they pay is a long the same line as the minimum wage in France. candidates can present themselves spontaneously without prior appointment For more information, go to the nearest information point: here To facilitate your arrival, it is advisable to have the documents and packaging effects listed on … “I now follow European soccer and I play it all the time, but I’m still a die-hard Packers fan.”Legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment sit on their Panhard VBL armored car at the unit's home base at Camp de Carpiagne on the Mediterranean coast. Recruits tend to come in waves — Germans in the 1940s and ’50s and English-speakers in the 1980s. Every Legionnaire is your brother-at-arms, irrespective of his nationality, race or creed. Army 2nd Lt. Lawrence Franks left his unit at Fort Drum in 2009. After drifting through several civilian jobs in southern California, Edward decided he missed the comradeship of military life. “Both my father and grandfather had served (in the U.S. military), so when I told my dad I was considering the French Foreign Legion he was very supportive,” he said, standing near a wall bearing the Legion’s motto: “Legio, Patria Nostra” (The Legion, Our Homeland). Bowe Bergdahl, who was recently dishonorably discharged from the Army on desertion charges after slipping from his base in Afghanistan, initially also tried to enlist in the Legion but was turned down for poor eyesight, after being rejected by the Coast Guard. Most of the Legion’s officers are graduates of France’s prestigious St. Cyr military academy, but about 10 percent of them are promoted from the ranks. To join the… Since its founding in 1831, the French Foreign Legion has become the one place of escape for those… Switching to watching soccer on TV instead of American football or baseball has been difficult, Cool said. They have now been replaced by a surge of applicants from Latin American and Asian nations such as Nepal. They are worn beneath the rank insignia.Today, the French Foreign Legion is serving to the France when their interests are at quest, worldwide.I'm the active duty law enforcement officer serving in SWAT unit. But any man who can say ‘I served with the Legion’ is guaranteed an audience.’” Its units have regularly participated in exercises with the U.S. Marine Corps in France, the United States and Africa. He is one of what he says are “several dozen” Americans in the elite formation that is still the hard core of the French army. The Legion recently received some unwanted publicity in the United States after being linked to two military court cases involving Americans. This organization advertises a “chance for a new life.” Men who are accepted into the ranks can achieve French citizenship and opt for a five-year contract or life as a career soldier. Applicants must be between 17 and 40 years old. Every day, several dozen men hoping to enlist arrive in Aubagne and in other recruitment centers throughout France, officers say.
About 16 percent are French nationals who join posing as citizens of other French-speaking countries, such as Belgium or Canada.
2. For years, all recruits are also volunteers in the French Foreign Legion, a unit which hosted foreign fighters through history. British spy novelist Len Deighton once wrote, “In our far-travelled, communication-lated permissive society, there are few remaining conversation stoppers. But today’s recruits in the 8,900-man unit undergo rigorous background checks by Interpol and France’s own intelligence services to ensure that no one with major criminal convictions makes it into the ranks. “Recruitment has always depended heavily on candidates from regions in turmoil, and North America and Europe are very stable and prosperous.” Legionnaires can apply for French citizenship after their first three years of service and about 80 percent do so eventually. 2 to 4 years), you are equipped, fed and accommodated free of charge. “We’re musicians, but we’re also combat soldiers — not just pretend soldiers,” Cool said. The French Foreign Legion is a military mercenary group that accepts recruits from around the world. Though many Americans have served with distinction in the Legion’s many wars, their numbers have fallen in recent years. Edward, an American member of the French Foreign Legion, takes a break during a weapons drill in September at Camp de Carpiagne, home base of the Legion's First Cavalry Regiment. “I am totally satisfied and I hope to make corporal next year and then be promoted to a noncommissioned officer,” Edward said, adding that his goal is to become an officer. “So, none of the bacon and eggs that U.S. soldiers are used to,” he said. Despite being promoted several times, Franks surrendered to U.S. authorities one day after he completed his five-year Legion contract. “I enjoy the work and the people around me,” Cool said. Timothy Cool, a 27-year-old corporal from Menash, Wisc., said the mystique was one of the reasons he decided to give it a try.