French Foreign Legion

[Irina_Linn]

My bf is thinking and most probably will join FFL,so my question is: does any of you guys know a person,who decided to join it? Honestly,i dont trust Internet that much on the question and would love to get some trustworthy info about how it works and how things really are =/

[mllebamako]

I don't know anyone personally, but when living in France, I was on an overnight ferry with a bunch of FFL guys and asked them a bunch of questions. What are you interested in learning?

I think him being in the FFL would make your relationship and regular contact really difficult.

[Irina_Linn]

I don't know anyone personally, but when living in France, I was on an overnight ferry with a bunch of FFL guys and asked them a bunch of questions. What are you interested in learning?

I think him being in the FFL would make your relationship and regular contact really difficult.

firstly,i am really interested in this: he says (according to the info on the Internet) the first 5 years of service there is NO contact at all with the outside world.so i wonder if that is really so or soldiers are allowed to write letters at least?
and second thing that bothers me: i came across some article where Russian guys were telling about their attempts to get in and how horrible it was,so in the end they were actually happy they were not accepted.so i wonder about conditions of living for soldiers there and the way they are treated.as well as their relationship between each other

i hope my questions do not sound too vanilla,but i guess i accepted my bf's decision and i suppport him in this so i just wanna make it a bit clearer and worry less in the future

[mllebamako]

From what I understand, the amount of contact you have with home/family depends on your status. I think you can choose if you want your identity completely hidden (then I think you don't have contact) or you can choose to be not anonymous/hidden (for that, I believe that contact is only barred during your training which I think is 4-5 months).

As for treatment of soldiers, I imagine it isn't very nice (but isn't that kind of all military bootcamps?).

My personal concern would be thinking about what type of men he's going to be around. The Legionnaires that I met were a pretty creepy bunch. I am sure there are some good men who join for legitimate reasons but most of the men I met were....well, how shall I put this. Most of them had been kicked out of the US military for abuse/rape or similar reasons. They were not even ashamed to tell us the reasons. Many of them were quite racist as well and I overheard them using racial slurs when talking about some of the friends I was with.

I am sure that there are plenty of them who are not like this, but the ones who I met really gave me the creeps

[Irina_Linn]

From what I understand, the amount of contact you have with home/family depends on your status. I think you can choose if you want your identity completely hidden (then I think you don't have contact) or you can choose to be not anonymous/hidden (for that, I believe that contact is only barred during your training which I think is 4-5 months).

As for treatment of soldiers, I imagine it isn't very nice (but isn't that kind of all military bootcamps?).

My personal concern would be thinking about what type of men he's going to be around. The Legionnaires that I met were a pretty creepy bunch. I am sure there are some good men who join for legitimate reasons but most of the men I met were....well, how shall I put this. Most of them had been kicked out of the US military for abuse/rape or similar reasons. They were not even ashamed to tell us the reasons. Many of them were quite racist as well and I overheard them using racial slurs when talking about some of the friends I was with.

I am sure that there are plenty of them who are not like this, but the ones who I met really gave me the creeps

thanks a lot for your reply tho! my guy wants to join because well...he is a military man,it can be easily seen.he is not the type who will be sitting in the office or upselling things.so i am actually proud of his decision.i just hope he will be lucky enough to be around adequate people

[libelle]

Why does your SO want to join exactly the French Foreign Legion, and not the regular army forces in his country? Just asking, because I had a friend who wanted to join it, but after some serious research concluded that it is a bad idea, mainly because of the way people change there, so decided not to go. My boyfriend is in the army and it isn't easy at all, even though we have the weekends to speak. I can't imagine writing only letters, or hearing from eachother once a month or so .. I think he should really overthink it before joining, first because of all the "good" fame this place has, and second because of the consequences it might have on your relationship. Everyone has their limit. Good luck!

[Irina_Linn]

Why does your SO want to join exactly the French Foreign Legion, and not the regular army forces in his country? Just asking, because I had a friend who wanted to join it, but after some serious research concluded that it is a bad idea, mainly because of the way people change there, so decided not to go. My boyfriend is in the army and it isn't easy at all, even though we have the weekends to speak. I can't imagine writing only letters, or hearing from eachother once a month or so .. I think he should really overthink it before joining, first because of all the "good" fame this place has, and second because of the consequences it might have on your relationship. Everyone has their limit. Good luck!

you are right,but its not so easy here.see,we are Belorussians.the country is really fucked up in a sense its total dictatorship here and the army forces are well...after joining the army here,people usually end up as brainless cruel gorillas.just working here is not a good idea either because average salary people get is 300$ per month with the prices 100$ for a kg of meat.since we are not in EU its real hard to get away.and since he is a military type of a person,he just decided it will be FFL.
However,why you saying about "good" reputation of the place? and yeah i understand how damn tough its gonna be if he joins =/

[libelle]

I am so sorry to hear about the state your country is in! I didn't know when I asked Here in Bulgaria it is a very similar situation except we are in the EU (for now) and is easy for me to move out. If he moves to France, what are you going to do in the meantime? I am guessing if he joins, he will continue and eventually pursue a career there, would you move to live with him in France then? In some situations like the one in your (and my) country, the best option is for both of you to move out for good, no matter how hard that is.. But aren't there any other countries' regular armies where he could join? Just googled: https://twocircles.net/node/239147 I don't know how accurate that is but maybe it is worth researching :?

What stopped my friend was that "everyone there gets brainwashed". Note that I am quoting and it is not information I have gathered myself, so it might as well be wrong. Just saying that it was the reason why he decided against it. Well, you are going to understand only when/if he joins and you feel for yourself how it is. Maybe you will handle it better than me, everyone is different and not everything is for everyone

[Irina_Linn]

I am so sorry to hear about the state your country is in! I didn't know when I asked Here in Bulgaria it is a very similar situation except we are in the EU (for now) and is easy for me to move out. If he moves to France, what are you going to do in the meantime? I am guessing if he joins, he will continue and eventually pursue a career there, would you move to live with him in France then? In some situations like the one in your (and my) country, the best option is for both of you to move out for good, no matter how hard that is.. But aren't there any other countries' regular armies where he could join? Just googled: https://twocircles.net/node/239147 I don't know how accurate that is but maybe it is worth researching :?

What stopped my friend was that "everyone there gets brainwashed". Note that I am quoting and it is not information I have gathered myself, so it might as well be wrong. Just saying that it was the reason why he decided against it. Well, you are going to understand only when/if he joins and you feel for yourself how it is. Maybe you will handle it better than me, everyone is different and not everything is for everyone

The situation is tricky because in few days i am going to study in Canada see,before we met,i was dating my ex who is in Canada now.so i planned everything up,me and my mom paid for the studies and then bam! break up and i met my boyfriend.But we decided not to leave this idea aside as moving to Canada is a great chance for me to get out and find proper job.
About his decison concerning Foreign Legion-he really likes it.He was reading and studying about it a lot and he seems to be really satisified with what he learned.
And thanks for support! thats really really encouraging

[libelle]

Good that you decided to continue with the education in Canada! Seems like we are on very similar paths right now I am moving out of home for the same reason, only it is to Germany. And my boyfriend will be in the Danish army for some time. I wish you all the luck, hope both you and your boyfriend achieve your dreams but also stay strong through all of it and find a way to connect the paths in the end You are welcome!

[Irina_Linn]

Good that you decided to continue with the education in Canada! Seems like we are on very similar paths right now I am moving out of home for the same reason, only it is to Germany. And my boyfriend will be in the Danish army for some time. I wish you all the luck, hope both you and your boyfriend achieve your dreams but also stay strong through all of it and find a way to connect the paths in the end You are welcome!

thanks a lot for your kind words and i wish you all the best with your relationship as well! i am sure you will stay strong and together as well best of luck and i am happy for you and your SO

[Malaga]

after joining the army here,people usually end up as brainless cruel gorillas.

Legionnaires are dogs of war - trust me, I've heard plenty of reliable first hand experience about the atrocities they participated in during the war here. So if he's looking to avoid being with brainless cruel gorillas, he's not knocking at the right door.

A friend of my ex went to their training, apparently. He didn't tell anyone, just disappeared for about 4 months I think. They were wondering where he was but since he was a bit weird anyway they didn't think much of it. He came back and said he was with the FFL and that he passed the test but decided not to enlist. He didn't elaborate much beyond that it's made of the kind of people you didn't want to be around.

[Irina_Linn]

Legionnaires are dogs of war - trust me, I've heard plenty of reliable first hand experience about the atrocities they participated in during the war here. So if he's looking to avoid being with brainless cruel gorillas, he's not knocking at the right door.

he told me that many people there are former prisoners or criminals looking for the way to hide from the governement.but still the Legion does not consist of such people only i guess

[Karoshi]

My father's friend was in FFL about 25 years ago, before the Velvet revolution in 1989, and what I know from his stories, being there was incredibly hard both physically and mentally. It is (or at least it was when he was there) true that many people there are former prisoners or criminals, and I mean REALLY TOUGH criminals. However, it seems like your SO is very responsible by doing his research, and if he really wants to join, it will be his decision, and I'm sure he will just do what he think is best. It's great that you are supporting him so much Good luck to you both!