Hello
Zambezi;
Sorry for a delayed answer, and thank you for your PM as
Red Leg,
Wyatt Smith,
VertigoBE suggested. I am posting my answer to it here, because it may be of interest to others
The days of the French Foreign Legion being a refuge for criminals are long gone. They were already long gone in the 1980's. As a matter of fact, criminals generally make poor soldiers because they are mostly not courageous, often recalcitrant to unit cohesion, and generally undisciplined...
The PERMANENT change of name when joining the French Foreign Legion is optional if I remember well (it has been a while since the 1980's...) and is more a tradition than anything else, EXCEPT in cases of political refugees or folks who have legitimate - but not criminal - reasons to be discreet. Technically, if I remember, the rule of anonymity applied at enlistment (hence a new identity being issued), but Legionnaires could return to their true identity after one year of service (it may be 6 months now I think) which few did. This is a very simple question to ask. I would not be surprised if the Legion official website had an answer to such questions. One course of action could also be to contact the military attaché at the French embassy. If (s)he does not know, (s)he will get the answer for you.
Yes, Legionnaires can now receive the French citizenship "par le sang verse" - the blood spilled in combat operations - as opposed to "le sang reçu" - the blood received from parents being French and their kids being automatically French. This was a concept that started getting traction in the 1980's and 1990's and which became law in either 1999 or 2000 if memory serves. As to receiving a "carte de séjour" (Green Card) upon serving, I do not know. I do not think that this was the case in the 1980's. But then again, France has always had very generous immigration policies, so I do not recall any exiting Legionnaire having an issue to receive one then. Now may be different with the tidal wave of emigration North from the exploding demography of Africa. This is another easy question to get an answer to from the military attaché at the French embassy.
As to your son becoming a field medic, the Legion, like any other force, needs and has field medics, of course, therefore the possibility exists. However, I do not believe that one can join the Legion contingent upon being made a medic, as, I believe, it is possible in the US military forces where recruits enlist directly into a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). At least, it was not the case if memory serves in the 1980's. Your son certainly CAN become a medic, but he would have to qualify, AND the Legion would have to need him to become one. No guaranty (at least there was none in the 80's if memory serves...).
The Legion continues to be one of the, if not THE, best fighting force in the world because -
this is my own analysis based on experience and certainly NOT an official representation - the average age of the troop is significantly older than that of most other forces. Allow me to expand a bit: it is no mystery that both physical and psychological strengths increase with maturity. A 28-year-old football player is stronger and more resilient physically than an 18-year-old football player. As to psychological strength, an 18-year-old soldier is barely out of adolescence, while a 28-year-old soldier is a man. This translates in the Legion in a force among which there are very, very few issues of "combat morale" or "combat fatigue" etc. A clear historic example was the absence of such issues in the Legion in Indochina, despite conditions being far, far worse compared to issues the US military experienced in Vietnam. Ah! the legendary overwhelming material superiority of American fighting forces... hence the difference of outcome between Dien Bien Phu and Khe Sanh........ It certainly does not reflect on the human quality of many of the young GI in Vietnam, but 10 additional years of maturity, and often in those days 5 additional years of tough combat experience (many Legionnaires in Indochina had served in the Waffen SS (
not to be confused with SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV), the SS organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps) on the Eastern Front, translated into the Legion being essentially impervious to issues of drugs, morale breakdown, self wounding, fragging of officers, etc. etc. etc. This characteristic of the Legion continues to this day I believe, or at least it continued into the 1980's. By the way, I am not stating that there is an average 10 year difference, I do not know the exact number, but from memory it was in this range and in any case very significant.
Not everyone qualifies to be a legionnaire (this was discussed in other posts) and the crucible is indeed the Marche du Kepi Blanc (White Kepi March). While it is physically trying, it is not much different I would expect from the training American Green Beret or British Commandos, or for that matter French Commando go through. Legends about frequent deaths or cascades of accidents happening during Legion training are just that: legends. There is no more, and no less, than in any other "committed" force.
As to the fabled "marche ou creve" moto (walk or die), it never referred to training or even discipline. It is historically based on the fact that early Legion units during the conquest of North Africa French colonies (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, etc.) suffered assassination of laggards by rebels during the strenuous and days-long marches in hostile country between frontier posts. Then, and to this day, becoming isolated in the "sand box" was/is never a great recipe for long and prosperous life...
What is different though is the level of specialization training the Legion offers. These were memorable in the 1980's and continue to be. The green hell of the jungle warfare training at The Equatorial Forest Training Center in Guyana continues to be THE world reference, and receives trainees from the entire world, including US special forces. The Centre d' Aguerrissement et d ‘Instruction au Désert (Desert Hardening – you have got to love the understatement of the word – and Instruction Center) in Djibouti was the first stop for all US special forces on their way to Afghanistan. And of course, the underwater and HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) parachute jump trainings are among the very best, and often welcome trainees (at least in the 1980's) from US Navy Seals and British SAS.
There is no question that someone emerging from 5 year at the Legion is one of the best trained, and often best small-unit-combat tested, soldier in the world, with an unsurpassed and rarely equaled, but amongst the very best, code of honor.
The one thing is that if the Legion resembles today what it was in the 1980's, I expect that they do not suffer fools and are unlikely to be overly impressed by the type of, shall I say, sloppily - or not at all - raised, whining, self-righteous, chose-to-be-offended kids and their shenanigans, as my son who is a Combat Instructor in the US Marines tells me he sadly starts to see on a daily basis. Of course there is no inference on
Zambezi's kid, but there are enough top quality volunteers for the lesser one to be weeded out. No, they are not beaten to death, killed on "training accidents" and other such lah lah land BS, they are simply kicked out...
