Any Aspies in the French Foreign Legion ?

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IDK, It kinda looked, ya know, adventurous and fun. And the uniforms are really cool.



Oh, but wait. That looks like it hurt. But that was back in the old days. I wonder what they are doing today ?



That doesn't look like much fun. And check out the bloody officer watching from a distance. He is probably folding his arms to keep himself from sticking his fingers in his ears.

It's not fun. It's some of the worst soldiering you can do in some of the worst places in the world. And you have to do it speaking French!

The people who join mainly seem to be people from countries where the pay seems good to them. People from Western nations who join and are actually accepted usually think of it as an adventure, but they find out it isn't. Soldering in the Legion seems to involve a lot of boring garrison duty in the world's hellholes, combined with a good chance of seeing live combat. The Legion doesn't outsource food preparation, cleaning, etc so you have a lot of nasty details. Corporal punishment is not allowed, but you often have the choice between the French version of non-judicial punishment leaving a black mark on your record (ie less pay in the future) or a caporal chef (senior NCO) popping you in the mouth. And you have plenty of opportunities to get into trouble, because there's not much to do.

They take only a select few of the people who show up to join, so I doubt anyone with AS would make it. They mold people from different nationalities into a military unit by making everyone socialize together. And sing. (Ugh!) The one appealing thing to people with AS is the Legion gets the mission done, no excuses, no messing around.

Still, I have to sort of admire the Legion Etranger - they take people no one else wants and gives them a chance (if they can hack it with the tough physical requirements and discipline) to be part of a family. And it is a family. Anyone who makes it in the Legion will have any other Legionnaire or former Legionnaire on the planet backing him up or helping him no matter what. It's a small, tight fraternity that's special to belong to.

(Obviously, I am not a Legionnaire, and don't know any Legionnaires. I like reading military history and know a little bit about the Legion. There are some good videos on youtube of their training at "The Farm".)

They definately are a very interesting military unit to study and undoubtedly very good at what they do. There is also a active element of myth-making always going on because of their unconventional methods of recruiting, especially in the past. Your certainly right about it being a difficult unit to get in to. I happened by the stat for 2010, and it said of 10,000 applicants only 950 where chosen. And that is before basic training starts. Couldn't find a reliable figure for the wash-out rate in basic, only a comment that it was about 50%.